Jules Rimet, the French visionary who founded the World Cup, aimed for a rapprochement of nations through football. Rimet believed this could be achieved if the game reached out to all social classes. He believed, passionately, in uniting people through sport.
Likewise, it is my firmly-held opinion that if we circulate chess to the other regions of Guyana, the ancient game would in turn return the favour and serve us magnificently. We may even acquire an international champion or two. Some may ask why push for the timeless game of chess to be circulated in Leguan and Wakenaam? And I would humbly respond, why not?
About a decade ago, I accompanied the then Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony to a getting-to-know-you exercise in chess on the Essequibo coast at the Anna Regina Multilateral School. I held a training session for schoolchildren and the response was simply over-whelming. There were these two boys who kept on asking: ‘Sir, when you coming to Wakenaam?’ It never happened.
I still believe that chess can bring together the regions in Guyana in one solid unifying block to compete internationally. By this, our chances for winning would be exponentially increased. When this happens, as a friend of mine prophesied, seasoned players who are accustomed to making the cut to represent Guyana at international fora, would be hard pressed to do so.
Tomorrow from 6 pm, the Guyana Chess Federa-tion (GCF) holds its online meeting by Zoom conferencing to elect its new representatives for the period 2022 to 2024. Among the nominees are four women:
Marcia Lee — The chess teacher at Marian Academy for the past eight years, she has been performing administrative duties for GCF’s online programme since 2020; teaching online chess at the beginner’s level to new students and hosting a mentoring programme for young girls within the GCF.
Yolander Persaud — An attorney-at-law, she is a councillor on the Inter-national Chess Federa-tion’s (FIDE) Ethics and Disciplinary Commission.
Petal Dodson — A University of Guyana management graduate, she is the events and venue coordinator with the Caricom Secretariat.
Jessica Callender — The current University of Guyana women’s chess champion, she represented Guyana internationally multiple times and at two FIDE Online Chess Olympiads.
Over the next two years, the GCF should be working on creating new directions for chess.