FIDE Master (FM) Anthony Drayton recorded three victories during the opening 10 rounds as Guyana occupied 14th place by Monday in the Men’s rapid team chess competition at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Drayton, rated 1996, accumulated three points on the first board and produced a performance rating of 2148. His campaign was highlighted by an opening-round victory over Mexican Grandmaster Sion Galaviz Medina, who entered the competition with a rating of 2437.
Despite Drayton’s upset, Guyana settled for a 1-1 draw against Mexico after Candidate Master (CM) Taffin Khan lost to Grandmaster Gilberto Hernandez Guerrero on the second board.
Guyana suffered consecutive 2-0 defeats against Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica before earning another draw against Nicaragua in round six.
Drayton secured the team’s point in that encounter by defeating FM Maximiliano Rocha with the black pieces. Khan was beaten by Moises Abraham Valle Alonso as the match finished 1-1.
The Guyanese later lost 2-0 to Venezuela and El Salvador before registering their first outright match victory with a 2-0 sweep of Haiti in round nine. They then went down 2-0 to Panama in the final contest of the day.
Khan collected one point from his first 10 matches and was ranked 16th among the second-board players. Drayton was 14th in the first-board standings with three wins.
Guyana ended the first 10 rounds with four game points and four match points. The national team were tied with Nicaragua and Puerto Rico, but held 14th position on the tiebreak system. Venezuela led the standings with 16 points, followed by Colombia with 15 and Cuba with 14.
Up to press time on Monday, the Guyanese were yet to complete the final five rounds of the competition.
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