Two new WCMs among Guyana’s chess players
The women who represented Guyana at the 2022 Chennai Olympiad moved up 16 places on the chess ladder from 136 to 120 in only their second international outing. A total of 162 women’s teams participated at the Olympiad.
Sasha Shariff and Jessica Callender were named as conditional Women Candidate Masters (WCM) and their fresh titles will be used when they attain the FIDE ratings of 1800 or above. Guyana’s previous WCM was Maria VaronaThomas.
Nellisha Johnson, Pooja Lam and Anaya Lall also distinguished themselves with verve at the Chennai Olympiad. Lall, 12, who entered the Olympiad as an unrated representative, achieved a FIDE rank of 1166, making her the 6th highest among junior chess players in Guyana. But it was Shariff who stole the limelight with an astounding 57-point addition to her FIDE score. Callender also gained 22 additional FIDE rating points, bringing her to a respectable 1319 rank. Guyana’s women defeated Laos, Central African Republic, Timor-Leste and Libya. They drew with Oman. In the Open section where the action was more pronounced, Guyana scored victories over Seychelles, Gabon, Brunei Darussalam and Burundi. Following his full quota of 11 games, Candidate Master Taffin Khan moved to 2005 making him the highest ranked FIDE competitor in Guyana. Khan played a worthwhile tournament on Board One, where the finest players converge worldwide. He scored 4.5 points from his 11 games.
FIDE Master Anthony Drayton gained an impressive 33 points making him the third highest chess player locally. Loris Nathoo finished the tournament on 1702 points and Roberto Neto on 1651. Ethan Lee, playing superbly in his first Olympiad and rated at 1523, is now the highest ranked junior chess player in Guyana. The Guyana team enjoyed a brilliant Olympiad tournament.