While chess is a popular sport in many countries, such as Russia, China, India, Azerbaijan and the United States of America to name a few, the popularity of the sport is slowly being rooted in Guyana.
The Guyanese contingent that represented Guyana in the 43rd Chess Olympiad
Over a decade, and there has been vast improvement; with players such as Fide Master Anthony Drayton being the first Guyanese to have a FIDE rating of over 2000; Wendell Meusa being ranked 2nd best player in the country; Yolander Persaud being one of the first Guyanese women to be elected to serve on a Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) Commission; and Maria Varona Thomas being Guyana’s first ever Woman FIDE Master.
There are also young, upcoming players such as Andre Jagnandan, Davion Mars, Sheriffa Ali, Sasha Shariff, and Chelsea Juma, among others, who have all risen to the occasion and are destined for greatness. Each player will be looking to be the next Vladimir Kramnik, Ding Liren, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov or Hikaru Nakamura.
With the Chess Olympiad scheduled to be held in Russia in 2020, many players are currently preparing to make the cut for the team that would be representing Guyana.
In 2018, the 43rd Chess Olympiad was held in Batumi, Georgia, USA. The team that represented Guyana consisted of a five-member open group and five-member women’s group. The open team consisted of Wendell Meusa (team captain), Glenford Corlette, Taffin Khan, Loris Nathoo and Anthony Drayton. The female team included Sheriffa Ali, Nellisha Johnson, Shazeeda Rahim, Sasha Shariff and Maria Varona-Thomas.
The team experienced mixed fortunes, as both the male and female teams struggled to hold on to some form of consistency. Nevertheless, there were notable performances from Anthony Drayton, Taffin Khan, Shariffa Alli and more.
President of the Guyana Chess Federation, James Bond, in a statement, said, “Chess is growing, but not rapidly. I’m seeing more chess clubs, more schools playing chess, more communities involved in chess.
“The GCF has a programme that was approved and applauded by FIDE. We have been hosting more tournaments, exposing more women and young people to chess, and providing the enabling environment for chess to be taught and developed.”
Also commenting, FM Anthony Drayton said selection for the 2019 team would be based on players’ performances for the year, and how well they have done at nationals. However, he noted that their performance must be consistent in order to be selected.
Whatever the outcome, there are bound to be new faces representing Guyana in 2020 at the Olympiads, as the rise of young, budding, fiery talent will put the game of chess on an international platform for Guyana.
