“Once every four years the world goes to war. They call it the games.” – Advertisement for the 1970 Michael Winner film, The Games, starring Stanley Baker and Ryan O’Neal.
The Games was my introduction to the Olympics. The movie centres around four long distance runners from Czechoslovakia, the US, England and Australia who are preparing to contest the gruelling 26-mile Olympic marathon in Rome, and it demonstrated an exacting statement of how improbable it is to convert one’s dedicated training into a gold medal on Olympic day. Subsequently, I became attached to the game of chess, and representing Guyana at the Olympics became a permanent fixture of my repertory.
It was not to be. I learnt that chess was not recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). As of June 1999, however, the World Chess Federation (FIDE) was recognized by the International Sports Federation. As a member of the IOC, FIDE adheres to its rules, including a requirement for doping tests! The prospects of chess becoming an Olympic sporting event remain unclear.
Since 1924, chess has been hosting its very own Olympics referred to as the Chess Olympiad. The first Olympiad in 1924 was unofficial. An attempt was made to include chess in the Olympics but this failed because of difficulties with distinguishing between amateur and professional players. While the 1924 Summer Olympics were taking place in Paris, the first unofficial Chess Olympiad also took place in Paris. FIDE was established on the closing day of the first unofficial Chess Olympiad. It organized the first official Olympiad in 1927, which was held annually and at irregular intervals until 1950. I assume the Second World War interfered with the sequence of the hosting of the Olympiad. Since 1950, the Olympiads have been held regularly every two years. In 1927 when the first official chess Olympiad was held in London, there were 16 participating nations. By 2014, when the last Olympiad was held, 172 nations participated. The Soviet Union won the gold medal 18 times, while Russia grabbed the coveted gold six times. The United States won five times, Hungary three, Armenia three, and Ukraine two. Those nations were the top finishers of the Olympiad in the male category. China took home the gold for the first time in 2014.
Guyana has been a participant at three Olympiads: 1978 in Argentina, 1980 in Malta, and 2014 in Norway. The two earlier Olympiads were dominated by the Broomes brothers who played the first and second boards. Anthony Drayton, just out of his teens, managed the top board for Guyana in Norway, and did so with credibility. He secured the title of Candidate Master by emerging victorious against similar top boards from other nations. By so doing, the ancient game may well be experiencing a renaissance among a new generation of players from the old days of the Broomeses, when Guyana was the acknowledged front runner in Caribbean chess, and only Cuba could have held Guyana successfully. Drayton has exhibited a depth of talent that is reserved for players of the highest levels. Exposing him to a chess trainer before the 2016 Olympiad in September would boost the accuracy of his play, and inevitably, boost the rank of our country within the select circle of the ancient intelligence game. Drayton, the young chess talent, keeps his tactics sharp by playing ‘ knock-up ‘ games with whomever opponents are available. Certainly, such involvement is not enough preparation for the Olympiad.
The World Youth Championships are happening in Greece as I write. World championship titles are on the line from age eight. There are 1,596 entries from 91 countries aiming for a place in history. The Under-11 and the Under-18 groups are the hotly contested items of the tournament. FIDE Master Awonder Liang, 11, rated 2,365 from the US, is one the favourites in his group. Vincent Keymer ,10, from Germany , is rated a hefty 2437 , and the African Under-10 champion Wassel Bousmaha, from Algeria, has already created an upset when he defeated Russia’s Andrey Tsvetkov, rated 400 points above him. The tournament is on-going.
At the Bilbao Masters Tournament in Spain where Anand, So, Giri and Ding Liren are competing, an extraordinary game was played that lasted 172 moves. That game, between Giri and Liren, ended in a thrilling draw. So, the American grandmaster who won the Millionaire Tournament recently in Las Vegas, is leading the Bilbao Masters .
