Guyana’s female team to the 43rd Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia bounced back in round nine to beat Ivory Coast 3-1 while the men’s team drew 2-2 with Aruba yesterday.
Against Aruba, playing on board one, Candidate Master (CM) Anthony Drayton continued his tremendous run, registering his sixth win, five of which are in succession as he defeated Randolf Tromp.
However, Glenford Corlette succumbed to Brian Diaz while CM Taffin Khan and Loris Nathoo held on to earn themselves draws and ensure Guyana did not lose the round
The women’s team, however, was in full glory as Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Maria Varona-Thomas, WCM Sheriffa Ali and Nellisha Johnson whipped out wins over their counterparts.
Earlier in round eight, Drayton and Khan recorded wins while Nathoo and Corlette secured draws against higher ranked players, Hamed Mlawa and CM Nurdin Hassuji respectively to see Guyana beat Tanzania 3-1.
Drayton, playing on board one, defeated CM Yusuf Mdoe while Khan ruled the board two against Albert Njau. Drayton secured his win by playing the sharp Giuoco Piano with the White pieces while Khan won his game against Albert Njau on time.
In the female division, the roller-coaster tournament for the women continued with only Varona-Thomas holding out for a draw against WCM Joyce Nyaruai Ndirangu.
WCM Ali was checkmated beautifully with a pawn after leaving her King exposed in a critical Queen and Knight endgame while Johnson miscalculated the variations following move 25.bg5 resulting in her losing a piece allowing D. Mwikali to make light work of converting her material advantage into a win.
Sasha Shariff, the last female player went down fighting in a losing King and Pawns endgame where she was down two pawns.
