National Chess Championship qualifiers open on Saturday

The 2026 National Chess Championship Qualifiers will begin on Saturday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall from 0900 hrs, the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) said.
The eight-round Swiss tournament will be played over two weekends — February 28 and March 1, and March 7-8 — with a classical time control of 90 minutes per player plus a 30-second increment per move.
The top nine finishers in both the Open and Women’s categories will qualify for the National Chess Championship, which starts on March 14.
In the Open section, FIDE Masters Rawle Allicock and Anthony Drayton headline the field alongside Candidate Masters Sachin Pitamber and Ronuel Greenidge, as players compete for a chance to challenge reigning national champion CM Taffin Khan.
The Women’s category is expected to feature former champions WCM Jessica Callender and WCM Sasha Shariff, with competitors seeking the opportunity to face defending champion WCM Aditi Joshi.
The top eight boards in the Open division and top four in the Women’s division will be live-streamed on lichess.org, with results available on chess-results.com, the federation said.
Diamond Fire and General Insurance sponsors the Women’s category, while the GCF backs the Open section.