Two years ago, when the buzz of chess was beginning to be heard, we could not anticipate that in a short time we would be representing our nation abroad.
Even as you read these lines, Guyana is being represented in chess in Paramaribo at the Inter-Guiana Games (Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana), by six of our juniors who knew nothing, or little of chess in 2007. By representing their country, the juniors have laid the first stone in the edifice of a carefully conceived plan to enrich the image of Guyana abroad. By going international, we are succeeding in moving the game from the narrow confines of local chess to the boundless realm of innumerable opportunities for our players.
The mere thought of playing among the finest juniors from among our neighbours is significant. This is how a nation could be respected, and its image polished. If our juniors shine in chess, our country glows with pride; especially so when a pawn was not pushed competitively for over twenty years. A colleague explained to me that we are already acquainted with our senior players. We see the identical faces at tournaments. But with every new tournament, we are seeing new juniors whom we never saw before, but who have begun to play the game in schools. And herein lies the significance for the sustained development of the game. While the seniors are inevitably fading into obscurity, the juniors are emerging rapidly to take their places and become the new breed of chess in Guyana.
We wish our juniors well in Parmaribo, and trust that they play carefully and with confidence.
Carlsen dominates!
Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen dominated the Second Pearl Spring Tournament in Nanjing, China recently with a stunning 8.0/10 score (80%), against five of the world’s leading grandmasters. Carlsen’s performance has been called one of the twenty best performances of all time. In the following game, Peter Leko holds the teenager to a draw.
Leko, P (2762) – Carlsen,M (2772)
2nd Pearl Spring Nanjing CHN (6), 04.10.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nb6 7.Ne2 c5 8.d5 e6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Nbc3 Na6 11.Nf4 e5 12.Nd3 Nc4 13.Qe2 Qa5. Carlsen plays a novelty. 14.a3 Bd7 15.Bg5 Rfc8 16.Be7! Qb6 17.d6!
A pawn sacrifice that Black does not accept: 17…Be6! 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.d7 Be6 20.dxc8Q+ Rxc8 21.b4 cxb4 22.axb4 Bf8 23.Bxf8 Rxf8. 24.Rfc1 Rd8 25.Bf1 Rd4 26.Rd1 Nxb4 27.Nxb4 Rxd1 28.Qxd1 Qxb4 29.Qa4 Qxa4 30.Rxa4 Nd6 31.Rxa7 Nxe4 32 Rxb7 Kg7 33.Rb5 Kf6 34.f3 Nd6 35.Rb6 Ke7 36.Kf2 h5 37.Bd3 Nf5 38.Ra6 Nd6 39.Ke3 Nc4+ 40.Kf2 Nd6 41.Bb1 Nf5 42.Ba2 Bxa2 43.Rxa2 g5 44.Ra4 h4 45.g4 Nd6 46.Ke3 Ke6 47.Ra6 Kd5 48.Kd3 f6 49.Ra5+ Ke6 50.h3 Nb7 51.Ra6+ Nd6 52.Kc3 Kd5 53.Ra5+ Ke6 54.Kb4 e4 55.fxe4 Nxe4 56.Rf5 Nd6 57.Rf1 f5 58.Kc3 fxg4 59.hxg4 Ne4+ 60.Kd4 Nf6 61.Re1+ Kf7 62.Rg1 h3 63.Rh1 Nxg4 64.Rxh3 Kg6 draw. 1/2—1/2.
