Shariff, Callender earn conditional Women Candidate Master Titles at Chess Olympiad

Shariff, Callender earn conditional Women Candidate Master Titles at Chess Olympiad

Sports

Guyana’s top chess players continue to earn victories at the ongoing FIDE Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India.

With only three rounds remaining in the tournament contested by more than 2000 chess players around the world, two players on Guyana’s Women’s team have earned their first titles. Jessica Callender earned her Conditional WCM title after Round 7 on August 5th, while Sasha Shariff earned hers after Round 8 on August 6th. Both players gained 4 wins out of 7 games.

Chess players are bestowed titles by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) based on their performance and are referred to by the titles before their name based on their ratings. It is a metric of a chess player’s rank.

Sasha Shariff is currently rated 1183 and Jessica is rated at 1295.

For the remaining members of the Women’s Team, Pooja Lam earned her first point against Sinnalone Sihavong from Laos, while Nellisha Jonson won against Dasavong Moukda of Laos and drew against WFM Jambo Linda of Malawi.

Reserve player Anaya Lall who has so far been subbed in for three matches earned a victory against Nathaela Baguida from the Central African Republic.

As a team, Guyana’s Women have defeated Laos and the Central African Republic 3 to 1. They also drew against Oman.

Round 8, played on August 6th was victorious for the Open team against Brunei Darussalam with CM Taffin Khan, FM Anthony Drayton and Roberto Neto winning against their opponents and Loris Nathoo gaining a half point from a draw with his opponent. Match results: 3.5 -.5 in favour of Guyana.

Round 9 continued on August 7th with the Open team faced off their neighbours of Suriname, while the Women faced off against Guam.

Games continue daily with one round per day and are being played at the Four Points by Sheraton Mahabalipuram Resort and Convention Centre. Play starts daily at 15:00 Indian Time – 05:30 Guyana. Links to live games can be found on the Guyana Chess Federation Website: www.guyanachess.org.