Guyana women secure first Olympiad win after difficult opening rounds

Guyana’s women earned their first victory at the 46th Chess Olympiad with a commanding 3½–½ result against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday, while the men suffered defeat by the same margin against Cyprus despite Candidate Master (CM) Sachin Pitamber holding a Grandmaster (GM) to a draw.
The third-round results in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, left both Guyanese teams with one match victory from their opening three rounds. The women recovered from losses to Colombia and Andorra, while the men’s success against New Caledonia was sandwiched between defeats to Slovenia and Cyprus.
Guyana’s campaign began on Wednesday, September 16, with both teams losing 4–0.
In the women’s section, Kataleya Sam and Ciel Clement forfeited their games against Colombia’s Women’s International Masters Valentina Argote Heredia and Ingris Rivera, respectively, after arriving late to the host country due to extended flight delays.
The two contested games also went Colombia’s way. Women’s Candidate Master (WCM) Sasha Shariff, rated 1538, lost to Women’s International Master Jorcerys Montilla Reyes, rated 2094. Women’s Candidate Master Jessica Callender, rated 1552, was beaten by Women’s Grandmaster Beatriz Irene Franco Valencia, rated 2038.

The men faced a similarly demanding opening assignment against Slovenia in the Open section. Kyle Couchman forfeited his first-board encounter with Grandmaster Anton Demchenko, while Candidate Master Taffin Khan lost to International Master Matic Lavrencic.
FIDE Master Anthony Drayton was beaten by Grandmaster Matej Sebenik, and Keron Sandiford lost to International Master Pierre Barbot. Each Slovenian opponent was rated at least 2479, compared with ratings ranging from 1874 to 2005 for Guyana’s four players.
Thursday brought a turnaround for the men, who defeated New Caledonia 3–1.
Candidate Master Pitamber, rated 1991, beat Nicolas Douyere, rated 1818, on the top board. Drayton defeated Titouan Bellier Pontais, while Sandiford overcame Christian Brotons. Couchman suffered Guyana’s only loss of the match against Mathieu Galois.
The women went down 3–1 to Andorra in round two, although WCM Aditi Joshi produced a notable victory on her first appearance of the tournament. Joshi, rated 1726, defeated Women’s FIDE Master Andrea Henderson de La Fuente, who held a 256-point rating advantage at 1982.
Sam lost to WCM Julia Muratet Carmona, Clement was beaten by Ariadna De la Riva Real, and Callender lost to WCM Alexandra Muratet Carmona.
Joshi continued her winning start on Friday, defeating Ronnia Durham-Balcombe, rated 1601, on the first board against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Clement added a victory over Molissa Francita Ashton, while Shariff defeated Kazene Pierre. Sam drew with Stacy Baptiste-King to complete an unbeaten match for the Guyanese women. Joshi finished the round with two wins from two appearances.
In the Open section, Pitamber supplied Guyana’s only half-point against Cyprus by drawing with Grandmaster Andreas Kelires. The result was particularly creditable given Kelires’ rating of 2532, some 541 points above Pitamber’s.
Cyprus won the remaining three boards. Couchman lost to FIDE Master Rafail Antoniou, Khan was beaten by FIDE Master Konstantinos Michaelides, and Drayton fell to FIDE Master Alexandros Isaakidis.
The 11-round Olympiad continues through September 27. Guyana’s women will seek a second successive victory against Hong Kong, China, in round four on Saturday, September 19, while the men will look to recover against Macau, China. Both matches are scheduled for 15:00h in Samarkand, with individual board pairings yet to be listed in the supplied results. (Michelangelo Jacobus)