National Chess Champion and Coach Wendell Meusa under his organisation, the Wendell Meusa Chess Foundation (WMCF), is striving to spread the game of chess to students from an early age. As such, the Foundation has hosted its chess summer camp which was inclusive of two competitions.
Admitting that chess is not very popular in Guyana, Meusa disclosed that the Foundation has a goal of pushing kids in Guyana to get involved in the sport. Aside from that, he is hopeful that he can produce players that are ranked internationally. “One of the main objectives here is to get these kids what we call a FIDE (World Chess Federation) ID. All of the participants should be getting an ID; this is the first step in receiving an international rating,” he said.
Speaking on the attendance to the camp, the chess champion noted that there was an unexpectedly large turnout. Added to that, the students who were trained and graded performed exceptionally when it was time to put their newfound skill to the test.
“This is the first time I’ve had a class where our lowest percentage was actually 92.5,” Meusa said in celebrating the children’s achievement. The programme also produced its youngest player, five-year-old Javier Ali.
Meusa described the end-of-program competition as being “very competitive”. “It was very, very competitive. These kids have shown a lot of improvement.”
Zeroing in on the specific areas that he has identified improvements in, Meusa stated, “We’re seeing more theoretical chess games, less blunders, less mistakes. We’ve seen positional sacrifices, tactical things, so these children are showing that they’re promising.”
Coupled with their astonishing progress, Meusa highlighted that the majority of the players are at a fairly young age, thus giving them more time for improvement. “Most of them are between the ages of 14 and 15, so I think Guyana has a bright future with chess.”
Ethan Lee, 15, could be considered the shining star of the programme, winning both of the tournaments hosted with a spotless record.
