We must work to provide the knowledge and the surroundings which can enlarge the possibilities of every citizen. – Lyndon Baines Johnson, President of the United States of America (Excerpt from his inaugural address, January 20, 1965)
Whilst the illustrious Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) is vigorously attending to the preparation of its programme for 2017, and contemplating the manner in which it intends to enlarge the possibilities of citizens through chess, the column pauses to bring you some major international highlights of the past year.
There is no Olympiad chess competition until September 2018, and therefore, the GCF enjoys the liberty of carrying the brilliant mind game to the people of Guyana. Undoubtedly, chess players would be eagerly anticipating the re-emergence of the scholarly primary and secondary schools’ championships, the hosting of the national junior and senior championships and the elusive annual general meeting (AGM) where officers of the GCF are elected. At the conclusion of March 2017, the cycle of three years would have been completed without an AGM. The AGM is scheduled for the beginning of each year; the end of March is the deadline by which it should be held.
Additionally, it would not be too early for the GCF to pronounce on a probable association with the Ministry of Education and the National Sports Commission for an entry into the Teachers Training College for the instruction of chess for school teachers, especially the ones from the hinterland communities. The expansion of chess within the society could encourage additional recognition from the international community.
The popular online news site, Chess Base, mounted an international competition to determine the most outstanding players of 2016. The question for all categories was: Which player impressed you the most in 2016? In the male category, the notable names which were presented in a short list of ten, were world champion Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana, Sergey Karjakin, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakriyar Mamedyarov, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Vladimir Kramnik and Hikaru Nakamura. Chess Base asked and players from around world
voted. US grandmaster Wesley So came out on top with the most votes as Player of the Year 2016. At the beginning of 2016, So started at Number 10 on the official FIDE ranking list, and by December he had moved up to an impressive Number 4 with a select 2800+ rating. In September, he grabbed the coveted gold medal with the American Olympiad chess team. He won the Sinquefield Cup and the London Chess Classic; those victories saw him to emerging victorious on the Grand Chess tour.
In the female category, Chinese chess grandmaster and woman world champion Hou Yifan was adjudged Player of the Year 2016 following the acquisition of most of the popular votes. In January 2016, Hou contested the A-category of the difficult Tata Steel Tournament and emerged with a respectable score, having participated with the all-male super-grandmasters of the day. A few weeks later, she regained the supreme title of woman world champion. Hou is number one on the Women’s World Ranking List.
