School of the Nations University student Jessica Clementson, 20, harboured a significant thought ever since she learnt to play chess as a modest teenage girl. She wanted to see more girls playing the rich ancient game. In Guyana, 
and it seems the world over, chess is a predominantly man’s sport. The extraordinary brain game attracts approximately eight male players from ten, giving a lopsided eighty per cent ruling. But all is not lost in favour of women. Spectacularly, India has more than doubled its women participants in tournament chess, similar to the Eastern European nations. China produced a woman world champion and Iranian women’s chess is effectively on the rise based on recent tournament results. Jamaica is the most effective and serious of the English-speaking Caribbean chess nations. Each Olympiad, the country fields a women’s chess team to oppose the big guns of women’s chess.
Guyana has never fielded a women’s chess team for the Olympiad. But if Clementson has her way, and obtains the support she desires, Guyanese women could participate in the 2016 Chess Olympiad scheduled for September in Baku, Azerbaijan. Following her experiences in local chess, contesting the Inter-Guiana Games chess tournaments, playing two international Sagicor Opens in Barbados, and the Umada International Cup in Guyana, Jessica felt impelled to take the initiative and give substance to her ambition of facilitating a women’s chess team for the Olympiad, thereby matching minds with the world’s finest.
To my knowledge, such an initiative is unprecedented in Guyana. It has never occurred before.
The training programme consists of four separate academic courses geared towards eloquent gameplay, and sophisticated cognitive understanding of elaborate chess positions. The training courses begin at a bronze level and reach their apex at a senior platinum level. Upon the completion of the one year programme, students will be awarded a certificate from the U-Knighted Chess Club. The ambitious project is aimed at creating a strong women’s chess team for local and international competitions. Clementson will employ the most modern techniques in preparing her students.
Chess Game
The following games were played at the 2015 London Chess Classic. World champion Magnus Carlsen won the tournament.
White: Alexander Grischuk
Black: Viswanathan Anand
1.c4 e5 2.d3 Nc6 3.Nf3 f5 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 O-O 8.Nc3 d6 9.O-O Bd7 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.cxd5 Ne7 12.Qb4 Nxd5 13.Qxb7 c6 14.Nd2 Nb6 15.Qa6 d5 16.Rac1 f4 17.Nf3 Qf6 18.Qa5 Kh8 19.b3 Bg4 20.Qc3 e4 21.Qxf6 Rxf6 22.Nd4 f3 23.exf3
exf3 24.Bh1 Rc8 25.Rfe1 h6 26.b4 Na4 27.Re3 Rcf8 28.h3 Bxh3 29.Rxf3 Bd7 30.Bg2 g5 31.Rxf6 Rxf6 32.Nf3 Kg7 33.Ne5 Be8 34.Bh3 h5 35.d4 Nb6 36.Rc3 Nc4 37.Nxc4 dxc4 38.Rxc4 Rd6 39.a3 Bf7 40.Rc5 Rxd4 41.Rxg5+ Kf6 42.Rf5+ Kg6 43.Rc5 Rd1+ 44.Kh2 Bd5 45.Bg2 Rd2 46.Bxd5 cxd5 47.Kg2 Kf5 48.Ra5 Ke4 49.Rxa7 d4 50.b5 Rb2 51.a4 Kd3 52.Rb7 Ra2 53.b6 Rxa4 54.Rb8 1-0.
White: Magnus Carlsen
Black: Alexander Grischuk
1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.O-O a6 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.Re1 b5 7.c4 g5 8.Nxg5 Ne5 9.Be2 bxc4 10.Nc3 Rb8 11.Rf1 h6 12.Nf3 Nd3 13.Ne1 Nxb2 14.Bxb2 Rxb2 15.Bxc4 Rb4 16.Qe2 Bg7 17.Nc2 Rb6 18.Rab1 O-O 19.Rxb6 Qxb6 20.Ne3 e6 21.f4 Kh8 22.f5 a5 23.a4 Qd8 24.h3 Qe7 25.Ba6 Bxa6 26.Qxa6 Nh5 27.Rf3 Rg8 28.Nb5 Be5 29.Ng4 Qh4 30.fxe6 fxe6 31.Nxe5 dxe5 32.Qxe6 Qe1+ 33.Kh2 Rxg2+ 34.Kxg2 Qxd2+ 35.Kg1 Qe1+ 36.Rf1 Qe3+ 37.Rf2 Qe1+ 38.Kg2 1-0.
White: Anish Giri
Black: Magnus Carlsen
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.d4 d6 9.c3 Bg4 10.Be3 exd4 11.cxd4 Na5 12.Bc2 Nc4 13.Bc1 c5 14.b3 Nb6 15.Nbd2 Rc8 16.Bb2 Nfd7 17.Qb1 g6 18.h3 Bxf3 19.Nxf3 cxd4 20.Nxd4 Bf6 21.Qd1 Ne5 22.Rc1 Bg5 23.Rb1 Nbd7 24.Rf1 Bf6 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.Bb1 Rxc1 27.Bxc1 Nd3 28.Qxd3 Bxd4 29.Bh6 Rc8 30.Qe2 Nf8 31.g3 Ne6 32.Kg2 Bg7 33.Be3 Bd4 34.Bd2 Qd8 35.Rc1 Rxc1 36.Bxc1 Qf6 37.a4 bxa4 38.bxa4 Nc5 39.a5 Bc3 40.Ba3 Bxa5 41.Bxc5 dxc5 42.Bd3 Bc3 43.Bxa6 Bd4 44.Bc4 Kg7 45.h4 Qb6 46.h5 Qf6 47.Ba2 gxh5 48.f4 Qg6 49.Kh3 f5 50.exf5 Qxf5+ 51.Kg2 Kh6 52.Qe6+ Qxe6 53.Bxe6 1/2-1/2.
White: Magnus Carlsen
Black: Hikaru Nakamura
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Nc3 e6 8.g4 Bg6 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.Bg2 Nc6 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Bb4+ 14.Nc3 Nb6 15.O-O O-O 16.d5 exd5 17.Nxd5 Bc5 18.Nc3 Bd4 19.Qf3 Qf6 20.Qxf6 Bxf6 21.Bf4 Rad8 22.Rad1 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Na4 24.c4 Nc3 25.Rd2 Rxd2 26.Bxd2 Ne2+ 27.Kh2 Rd8 28.Be3 Nc3 29.a3 Rd3 30.Rc1 Nd1 31.Be4 Rd7 32.Bc5 Nb2 33.Rc2 Na4 34.Be3 Nb6 35.c5 Nd5 36.Rd2 Nf6 37.Rxd7 Nxd7 38.Kg3 Kf8 39.f4 Nf6 40.Bf3 Ke7 41.f5 gxf5 42.gxf5 Kd7 43.Kf4 Ne8 44.Kg5Ke7 45.Bf4 a6 46.h4 Kf8 47.Bg3 Nf6 48.Bd6+ Ke8 49.Kf4 Nd7 50.Bg2 Kd8 51.Kg5 Ke8 52.h5 Nf6 53.h6 Nh7+ 54.Kh5 Nf6+ 55.Kg5 Nh7+ 56.Kh4 gxh6 57.Kh5 Nf6+ 58.Kxh6 Ng4+ 59.Kg7 Nd4 60.Be4 Nf2 61.Bb1 Ng4 62.Bf4 f6 63.Be4 Nf2 64.Bb1 Ng4 65.Be4 Nf2 66.Bxb7 Nd3 67.Kxf6 Nxf4 68.Ke5 Nfe2 69.f6 a5 70.a4 Kf7 71.Bd5+ Kf8 72.Ke4 Nc2 73.c6 Nc3+ 74.Ke5 Nxa4 75.Bb3 Nb6 76.Bxc2 a4 77.c7 Kf7 78.Bxa4 1-0.
