Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.

-Aldous Huxley.

Experience at the chess board does not accumulate with the inevitable grey hair. We must have learnt from our mistakes. Sometimes a player in his early teenage years is more experienced at chess than an adult. Magnus Carlsen at 19 is a classic example of this. He is the world’s number one by rating.

Among our juniors therefore, there may already be some experienced chess players. Experience means paying attention to the significant happenings on the chess board, and storing them in our faculties for later appropriate use. We should always be on the lookout for positions which we had encountered previously, and try to remember how we dealt with those positions, and especially, how we solved those difficulties which were inherent in the positions.

Our juniors need to know some of these hidden truths of chess, so that their confidence could be strengthened as they push forward towards recognition and glory. Taffin Khan, still a junior, although he has been competing with the seniors, is more experienced in chess than a number of older chess players. Age does not determine experience in the mind game.

Next Sunday, we begin the Mashramani Topco Juices Chess Tournament which is being sponsored by Demerara Distillers Limited. The company has increased the ante among the juniors by offering them a special incentive prize in addition to other cash prizes, trophies, and beverages for use on playing days. The winner of the Mashramani Topco Juices Tournament will receive from DDL, one year’s supply of Topco juices.

This offer is new to chess, and it is felt we would see a more competitive spirit among our juniors. The favourites for winning the prize are Cecil Cox, Saeed Ali, Raan Motielall, Rashad Hussein, Sham Khan, and Khalid Gajraj. These are our strongest and finest juniors. For the Trophy Stall Chess Tournament that was played last month, Raan took home the first prize in the absence of national champion Cecil Cox. It would be nice this time around, if Cecil can obtain the permission of his parents to compete in the Mashramani competition.

DDL is sponsoring three chess tournaments this year, as it did last year, but this time around generous attention would be paid to the juniors, in the interest of strengthening their game, and simultaneously, developing chess in Guyana. General Manager of DDL, Loris Nathoo, said: “We want to help our young players to develop to their maximum potential, and to play sound and logical chess.”

Chess has been energized by DDL’s offer, and we anticipate a rigorous Mashramani tournament.