Never before in Guy-ana’s history has there been 50 or more girls and women playing chess. In the 1970s when the Guyana Chess Association was established, I can recall there was Cyrilene Massiah, a student of St Joseph High School, who was the lone female player in a chess tournament. She was a strong and seasoned contender, matching thinking power in theore-tical conceptions with her male counterparts. After-ward, there was Ms Carter, Ms Chin and still after-ward there was Diedre Joseph.
There were no special prizes offered for women, who had 
to compete equally with the men, but they did, creating upsets and inconveniences along the way.
What was not accomplished in 40 years, was achieved in two as today there are 50-plus women and girls com-peting in local chess. The architects of this are the inimitable Secretary of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) Mrs Marcia Lee and her hard-working team. Mrs Lee has been at the forefront in encourag-ing girls to play chess. She initiated the Giftland Mall chess endeavour and organized the Duncan Street and Duke Lodge meetings recently. Mrs Lee is supported by the President of the GCF Anand Raghunauth and the directors of the manage-ment committee.
CHESS GAME
White: Michael Adams
Black: Andrei Volokitin
Event: 2023 UK vs Ukraine Challenge Match, London, England
Type of Game: Sicilian Defence: Canal Attack
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Bd3 Nc5 7. Nc3 g6 8. O-O Bg7 9. Re1 O-O 10. Bf1 b6 11. f3 Bb7 12. Be3 a6 13. Qd2 Qc7 14. a4 Rfd8 15. Bh6 Bh8 16. Qf2 e5 17. Nf5 d5 18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Qh4 Rd7 20. Nxd5 Bxd5 21. Rad1 Re8 22. Ne3 Be6 23. Rxd7 Qxd7 24. Rd1 Qc7 25. b3 Bg7 26. Bg5 h5 27. Nc4 Nb7 28. Kh1 b5 29. axb5 axb5 30. Ne3 Qc5 31. b4 Qb6 32. Qe1 Nd6 33. Qd2 Nc4 34. Bxc4 bxc4 35. c3 Qb5 36. Bd8 e4 37. f4 Qb8 38. Bg5 f6 39. f5 gxf5 40. Bh4 f4 41. Nd5 Qe5 42. Nxf4 Bh6 43. Rf1 e3 44. Qc2 Bf5 45. Qe2 Bxf4 46. Qxc4+ Be6 47. Qxf4 e2 48. Rf3 Rd8 49. h3 Rd1+ 50. Kh2 e1=Q 51. Bxe1 Rxe1 52. b5 Kf7 53. Kg3 h4+ 54. Kh2 Kg6. 0-1. White resigns.
