Mixed fortunes for Chess Olympiad team

The Guyanese contingent at the 43rd World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia continues to experience mixed fortunes as both the male and female teams struggle to hold on to some consistency.
The teams have now completed eight rounds of games and although they looked promising in the sixth recording their first win, the chess players continue to drift between wins and losses.
After a bleak showing in the earlier rounds, the Guyanese team surprised their opponents in the form of Rwanda with a scintillating victory. Guyana’s highest ranking male Anthony Drayton continues to excel at the competition, as he led the charge in the ground-breaking win. Drayton executed the Guicco Piano on his opponent Fidele Mutabazi. Control of the game went back and forth between the players, but it was the higher ranked Drayton who had better tactics.
The experienced Taffin Khan also got a taste of the sweet as he brought in Guyana’s second win. The Guyanese candidate master capitalised quickly on a number of his opponent’s Maxence Murara’s falters to secure the game.
New to the international team is Glenford Corlette who made an impressive showing for himself. Corlette pressured Alain Niyibizi into making silly moves after a lethal attack on his castled king. Corlette went as far as sacrificing his queen, and his match was seen as one of Guyana’s best.
Despite not being able to clinch the win, Loris Nathoo settled for a draw against Urwintwari Murara, paving the way for Guyana’s 3.5 -.5 win.
The women showed similar grit in their encounter with Tanzania. With no less expected of her, Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Maria Varona Thomas conjured a Sicilian defence that demolished the opposing Asha Kondo.
With the young Nellisha Johnson and Sasha Shariff going down to Zahabiyah Ebrahim and Alapati Navini Choudary respectively, it was up to the experienced Sheriffa Ali to save face for the Guyanese women. Her lengthy encounter with Bertha Samson resulted in a stalemate, giving the women a 2-2 draw.
In the next round, the positions were switched for the Guyanese as the women won and the men missed out.
In their 3-1 win over the Mauritius team, Johnson showed her true potential after coming back from the edge to take her opponent’s queen. Ali had similar luck, taking apart Essoo’s Scandinavian defence for the win. Shockingly, Varona Thomas was unable to get past her lower ranked adversary, thus settling for a draw. The youngest, Shariff also copped a draw resulting in their 3-1 win.
The men’s figures looked similar, but this time they were on the lesser side, losing to Malta 3-1.
Khan, Nathoo and Corlette all lost to their rivals from Malta, and it was Drayton who clinched Guyana’s only point in the game. Drayton with the Sicilian Defence in his corner took control of the game.
The eighth round held more promising prospects for Guyana’s men as they now met Tanzania. Both Drayton and Khan recorded wins against Yusuf Mdoe and Albert Njau respectively. Nathoo and Corlette had better rounds than their previous, settling for draws against Hemed Mlawa and Nurdin Hassuji, resulting in their 3-1 win.
However, the eighth round was not as good for the women who went down 5.3-.5 to Kenya. Playing against Joyce Ndirangu, Varona Thomas was the only player to salvage a half point for Guyana, as the other ladies Ali, Shariff and Johnson lost.
The Guyanese team have three more rounds of play remaining.