A new year has begun and with it comes the responsibility of a select few positively administering chess for 2020.
Former president Forbes Burnham had brought chess to the masses with the establishment of the Guyana Chess Association in 1972. Through five decades of regular associations, membership has climbed, fallen, climbed again and so on. The vicissitudes have been many, and, undoubtedly, will continue. Nevertheless, we have to soldier on, as we are aware of the benefits to be derived from playing the ancient game.
We thank the participants of our local tournaments; juniors and seniors, whose steady streams into the various tournament halls made chess richer in 2019. The juniors were more prominent in that regard and their commitment sent a distinct message that chess is beginning to show its face. It is only by their unrelenting commitment that we would be able to peer into a robust chess future, and indirectly, into a broader society’s future.
Playing chess moulds the minds of youths, especially, in a virtuous manner. Also we should not forget the dedicated parents who accompany their children to tournaments and who offer guidance whenever that is required. They are just as important as the actual competitors.
Further, we should pay tribute to our sponsors. Their presence caused chess to soar in 2019. Without their involvement, we could have been teetering on collapse. Two of our major sponsors for 2019 were Gaico Construction and Demerara Distillers Topco Limited which supported the Grand Prix and Junior Competitions, respectively.
As regards those who administer chess, the small group now being led by Frankie Farley, president of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), is talented and speaks the language of foresight. During 2019, it was the Georgetown and Berbice factions which organised and sponsored competitions. The GCF, naturally, would love to make chess available in schools throughout the regions, but such an enormous task will take time, effort and sufficient sponsorship. Sponsors, perhaps, may wish to take a look at getting some chess sets into schools around the country once a carefully designed programme has been implemented. At a recent rapid competition in Corentyne, the GCF donated two chess sets to Berbicians—one to the New Amsterdam Multilateral School, and the other to an individual who has been playing chess for almost his entire life. He was encouraged to develop his own body of chess players. The GCF felt he possessed the capability to do so. The column takes the opportunity to salute the members of the Berbice Chess Association for a job well done during the last quarter of 2019.
Tournament directors John Lee and Rashad Hussein should also be honourably mentioned. They both excelled at what they did with the juniors and the seniors, respectively. Sometimes the two tournaments, juniors and seniors, were conducted alongside each other. I recall a light moment when a six or seven-year-old boy was drumming on the playing table. Lee asked him to stop. After a while, he began drumming again. Lee went over, smiled, and asked him to stop again. The boy said he was drumming on his forearm and not on the table, meaning nothing was audible. Now I was the one who smiled. In a flash I perceived a thinking erudite chess player who was unafraid to go for his moves. Shiv Nandalall , a former president of the GCF, acts as the events coordinator, and does so with elan. He manages the press releases for the GCF: organising, writing and distributing them to the press. In his quiet manner, his efficiency is evident. Loris Nathoo, the creator of the local democratic Grand Prix points system, should be added to the list of notables. The Grand Prix has become the biggest hit of a chess player’s caprices. We should also thank Donald Duff of the Stabroek News in addition to the cameramen of the NCN. In fact, all the news media were kind to chess in 2019. The GCF says thank you. And lastly, the Sunday Stabroek which has been chess’s largest promoter. The newspaper fulfilled our expectations for 2019. Happy New Year to one and all! See you at the chess board this year.
