I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. – Stephen Grellet, 1773-1855, author and French-born American Quaker missionary.
This uplifting quotation resonates with the moral value of our existence and the Christmas spirit. It reflects the soul of the Guyanese nation at Christmas time. We give selflessly at Christmas. Let us be resolved to maintain and continue this storied tradition.
2016 was a rewarding year for chess internationally. In mid-February, legendary world chess champion Garry Kasparov expressed contentment over the fact that chess was spreading rapidly across the younger generation with an upward trend being observed in scholastic chess. He said he was already perceiving a dramatic increase in the role chess was playing in modern society.
We witnessed a fair number of competitions which pitted the world’s top ten chess players against each other. We examined the games of the juniors, the Samsons of tomorrow, some more engaging than the others, but none more than the Indian and Iranian young men and women.
2016 was the year of the vigorous chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, where the strong opposed the stronger, and the weaker matched gloves with the weakest. It was at that event 175 nations gathered in a universe teeming with tension, instability and recklessness, simply to play chess, enemies on the ideological and political fronts, but friends in chess. By the number 175, chess had maintained its position as the second most-played sport in the world, second only to soccer, or football, as we know it.
November came and with it the World Chess Championship featuring the imperturbable title holder from Norway, Magnus Carlsen. His challenger for the title, Russia’s Sergey Karjakin, ably demonstrated he was a worthwhile challenger and treated tens of millions of chess players to some sophisticated chess games during the championship.
Earlier in the year, Karjakin had bested a prolific field which boasted the highest chess ratings of all time.
Toward the middle of December, the inspiring mind game closed its year with eight of the top ten chess players worldwide vying for ascendancy in the London Chess Classic in a spectacular money tournament. American grandmaster Wesley So, numbered in the top ten of chess players worldwide and a likely challenger to Magnus Carlsen for the 2018 world championship title, walked away with the big money.
On the local chess front, the year began with the customary Trophy Stall chess tournament with sponsorship coming from its owner Ramesh Sunich. Taffin Khan played flawlessly to seize top honours and overcame challenges from Anthony Drayton and Wendell Meusa. Chess was off to a satisfying start for 2016. Following that Trophy Stall tournament, local chess centred around the chess Olympiad that was held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Taffin Khan and Maria Varona-Thomas were exceptional for Guyana.
But again, for the second year in a row, Guyana was without a constituted body in chess. The failure of the incumbent to hold its annual general meeting at which members of the executive committee are elected, is disappointing. The Federation was not in a position to submit its proposed programmes to the National Sports Commission, which included its financial statements and budgetary activities. It seems as if the incumbent body has adopted a policy of procrastination for the hosting of an AGM. The column is optimistic however, that the meeting would be held shortly. It is not enough to satisfy a few who play chess continuously. Forbes Burnham used to say, one must in some degree, satisfy all.
