Aims to learn the shorter format of the game

Sheriffa Ali’s highly decorated career…

Focused on the future and driven by determination, Sheriffa Ali sets herself apart from everyone in the chess arena in Guyana. Ali is one of Guyana’s youngest Women’s Candidate Master (WCM) and has a FIDE rating of 1332. Currently, Ali’s goals are to train to participate in the faster formats of chess as the highly decorated chess player hasn’t participated in any tournaments for 2019.
In an interview with Guyana Times Sport when asked about her accomplishments, Ali said, “I was seven years old when I started to play chess, my grandfather and uncle introduced me to the game and gave me a brief introduction about it. Shortly after I started training sessions at Oasis Cafe with Irshad Mohammed and participating in tournaments. I believe I was eight or nine when I won my first

Sheriffa Ali

chess tournament… I played in the 2016 chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan. I won four games, drew three and lost three. I gained my title, Woman Candidate Master, WCM, from that tournament”.
Ali further went on to state that she participated in the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) in 2011-2014, whereby she gained the status of the first Junior Guyanese player to ever win a tournament out of the country. In 2017, Ali and her brother, Saeed Ali, represented Guyana in a chess tournament held in Barbados and in 2018 she went to the Chess Olympiad held in Batumi, Georgia, where she secured 4.5 points. Ali also stated to this publication that while she is most know for the longer formats of the game, she has been itching to try her hand at the blitz format. Ali also stated that while she may have to use a chess clock with a shorter time to get accustomed to the time constraints or even use chess engines to better her skills, she is willing to put her best foot forward as she hopes to participate in her first tournament when the University of Guyana closes for the summer.
Some of Ali’s other achievements are Oasis Cafe Chess Tournament, Oasis Chess Tournament (2009), sponsored by Dr Michele Ming; Oasis 2 Chess Tournament; Trophy Stall/Oasis Chess Tournament; Royal Chess Academy Championship 2011; Trophy Stall/Oasis Cafe Chess Tournament; Trophy Stall Open Chess Tournament (January 2011); National Chess Champion; Rapid Open Chess Tournament (June, 2009); Sasha Cells; Mashramani 2010 Open Chess Tournament; Mid-Year Open Chess Tournament (June, 2010); Royal Chess Academy Championship 2011 Open Section; National Schools Chess Championship 2012; National Schools Chess Championship 2009; Red Cherry Ladder Chess Tournament (2012); National Chess Championship 2009; Sasha Cells Junior Championship 2012 and 2013; National Schools Chess Championship (2012); and many other achievements.
In closing, Ali said, “I’d like to thank Irshad Mohammed, he was my first coach. Taffin Khan, he was very helpful in preparing me for both of the chess Olympiad and my brother Saeed Ali who also played a vital role in teaching me”.