Chess is enjoying an unprecedented boom in the capital city much of it because there was open criticism over the manner in which the 2016 Guyana Olympiad chess team was chosen. The chess column had advocated for a nomination tournament to be held to ensure transparency and that such a tournament should be advertised with enough time to allow interested persons to participate meaningfully. There was no such qualification tournament. The argument that the World Chess Federation required the list of participants at a moment’s notice is largely filled with holes. Research has shown the argument in question to be ridiculously, and conveniently, overstated.
The seven-round Andrew Arts Memorial Chess Tournament occurred over two successive weekends, was FIDE-rated, and followed the Mike’s Pharmacy Jubilee one day competition. Taffin Khan demonstrated his ability to undertake challenges and persevered to win the event. His foremost competition came from the mind of Haifeng Su, who has certified himself as an improved player.
His performance at this year’s chess Olympiad should be more rewarding than in 2014, when the previous Olympiad was conducted. Su did not lose a game during his seven encounters and drew with Khan. Anthony Drayton placed third with a disappointing performance after emerging victorious in therecent Jubilee one-day rapid tournament.
Newcomer to tournaments Joshua Pedro played splendidly in the FIDE-rated competition. I was disappointed, however, when playing the black pieces against Drayton, he allowed his opponent to dislocate a centrally placed Knight which crumbled his game.
In the subsequent press release in relation to the tournament, it was stated that I lost to Sherrifa Ali, an Olympiad participant. Perhaps a genuine error was made, but this is incorrect. Every participant’s name was mentioned in the release, with the exception of Frankie Farley. Recently, Farley announced his candidacy for the post of president of the Guyana Chess Federation recently. The tournament results are required to be submitted to FIDE, since the competition is FIDE-rated and influences a participant’s rating points.
Chess games
The following games were played at the 2016 Women’s Grand Prix in Chengdu, China. Koneru Humpy, the Indian Woman grandmaster, leads the tournament which ends July, 15.
White: Koneru Humpy
Black: Zhao Xue
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1 Qd8 9. Qb3 Ba5 10. Bd3 c6 11. O-O Nd7 12. Rfd1 Qe7 13. a3 Nf6 14. Qc2 Bc7 15. h3 Bd7 16. Ne5 Rad8 17. Qe2 Bc8 18. Bb1 c5 19. cxd5 exd5 20. f4 a6 21. Qf3 Rfe8 22. Ba2 cxd4 23. exd4 Bb6 24. Bxd5 Be6 25. Bxb7 Rxd4 26. Kh1 Rxf4 27. Qxf4 Qxb7 28. Qf3 Qc7 29. Nd3 Qb8 30. Nf4 Bb3 31. Re1 Rd8 32. Ne4 Nxe4 33. Rxe4 Ba5 34. Re3 Ba4 35. b4 Bb6 36. Rd3 Re8 37. Nd5 Bb5 38. Rd2 Bd8 39. Rf2 Bh4 40. Qxf7+ Kh8 41. Rc7 Re1+ 42. Kh2 Be7 43. g3 Be8 44. Qf4 1-0.
White: Koneru Humpy
Black: Tan Zhongyi
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 Nf6 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c6 7. a4 O-O 8. Ba3 Re8 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. Bd3 e5 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Rxe5 14. O-O Qc7 15. c4 Rh5 16. f4 dxc4 17. Bxc4 Qb6 18. Qd2 Ne4 19. Qd4 Qxd4 20. exd4 Bd7 21. Rfe1 Re8 22. d5 Rh6 23. a5 Rf6 24. g3 h5 25. Bd3 Nd6 26. Rxe8+ Bxe8
27. Rc1 Bb5 28. Bb1 Bd7 29. Rc7 Bg4 30. h4 Bf5 31. Bxd6 Bxb1 32. Bb4 Rf5 33. d6 Rd5 34. d7 1-0.
White: Tan Zhongyi
Black: Dronavalli Harika
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Qc2 Nbd7 8. e3 Nh5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. h3 g6 11. Be2 Ng7 12. Bd3 Nf6 13. g4 Be6 14. Ne5 Nd7 15. O-O-O O-O 16. f4 f5 17. h4 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Qc5 19. h5 Qxe3+ 20. Kb1 fxg4 21. hxg6 h5 22. Ne2 c5 23. Qc1 Qxc1+ 24. Rxc1 c4 25. Bc2 Rad8 26. Rcd1 d4 27. Nxd4 Rxf4 28. Ne2 Rxd1+ 29. Rxd1 Rf2 30. Ng3 Kf8 31. Ne4 Re2 32. Kc1 Ke7 33. Rf1 Bf5 34. Kd1 Rxc2 35. Ng3 Bxg6 36. Rf6 Bd3 0-1.
White: Zhao Xue
Black: Antoaneta Stefanova
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. a4 e6 6. g3 Bb4 7. Bg2 Nbd7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qc2 a5 10. Bf4 dxc4 11. e4 b6 12. Rfd1 Re8 13. h3 Bf8 14. g4 Ba6 15. g5 Nh5 16. Bh2 Qe7 17. h4 f6 18. Bh3 g6 19. gxf6 Ndxf6 20. Ne5 Qb7 21. b3 c5 22. d5 exd5 23. exd5 cxb3 24. Qxb3 Bd6 25. Be6+ Kg7 26. Rab1 Rab8 27. Qb2 Qc7 28. Re1 c4 29. Kf1 Nxd5 30. Nxd5 c3+ 31. Kg2 Bb7 32. Qb3 Rxe6 33. Kg1 Bxd5 34. Qxd5 Rbe8 35. Qd4 Nf6 36. Rb5 c2 37. Qb2 Bxe5 0-1.
