Guyana demolished a determined Burundi Olympic chess team on Tuesday 4-0 during the country’s current chess campaign in Norway. Guyana is attending its first Olympiad after 34 years. On Monday, Guyana overcame a drought in international chess victories through the agency of Ronuel Greenidge, who took down a player ranked higher than himself from Liechtenstein, a tiny European country. In the following round, the Guyanese players dazzled with their collective exploit of scoring four victories in their four games against the south-east African country of Burundi.
The victory represented a milestone for the development of Guyana’s chess. I had always felt that we possessed the intellectual ability to improve our rank internationally, but that we were starved for international competition. One’s rank in chess can only be catapulted upwards when one regularly opposes other higher-rated opponents.
Those who cannot afford the financial costs which are associated with competing overseas, are going to continue to lag behind. A structure has to be employed to seriously address these difficulties.
We are aware that chess begins in the schools. In the more economically advanced nations, dedicated teenagers are quietly becoming chess masters. The ‘Chess in Schools’ programme has been introduced in a number of countries worldwide.
In Guyana, the Ministry of Sport has been hosting a successful schools’ chess championship each December. Regrettably, the championship was not held last year, but we remain optimistic that it will be re-introduced this December. Certainly, our attendance at the Olympiad would act as a stimulant for our young, aspiring chess players.
A fair number of Guyanese chess enthusiasts and some well-wishers for the Olympic team, expressed disappointment at the exclusion of Taffin Khan from the team, and the circumstances under which he was omitted. The exclusion of Taffin effectively lessened the overall capability of the Guyana team. Maria Thomas has had to step up from being the reserve player to complete the local team. She is playing fourth board for Guyana. So far Guyana has opposed Burundi and Bhutan, beating both countries 4-0; Kyrgyzstan and Albania, to whom the team lost 4-0, and Liechtenstein which defeated Guyana 2½ to 1½. Anthony Drayton drew his game on top board, while Ronuel Greenidge outmanoeuvred his second board opponent to take the full point. Guyana’s sixth game is against the populous African country of Nigeria. Drayton will come face to face with an International Master. In fact the entire Nigerian team is ranked higher than their Guyanese counterparts.
The Olympiad ends on August 14.
