The 8th Intra-Regional Central Bank Games were played last weekend at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall and the National Stadium. The participating Guyana and Caribbean chess teams competed at the Sports Hall in what could accurately be described as an “intelligently organised, and efficiently run” tournament.
It was a wonderful day of chess for Guyanese players on Saturday. Here it was, we were witnessing actual overseas participation in Guyana after some two decades. We pulled out the desk flags of the Caribbean countries and placed them alongside the Golden Arrowhead in a significant and symbolic gesture of pride and competitiveness. Excitement was certainly in the air as players took their respective positions and prepared to do battle.
Guyana placed fourth in the competition with Barbados coming first, followed by Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. It was a team championship competition with three players comprising a team. Each team was obliged to field a female player. Each player had at his or her disposal, fifteen minutes to complete the game. Guyana reached the semi-finals but lost out to Trinidad and Tobago. In the third-place playoffs, Jamaica managed to squeeze past Guyana on time.
Fifteen minutes per player to finish a tournament game is a difficult task. It’s either you have the ability to play quickly or you don’t. This has nothing to do with how skilful you are on the chess board. Our players acquitted themselves very well. Jason Allicock played top board for Guyana and did not lose a game. Joseph Lall, a strong player who used to play competitively previously, faltered on time and not on weak positions. The lone female, Amrita Singh, also a strong player, did not find some of her best moves owing to the crippling time countdown. I competed with Amrita in the Jumbo Jet Rapid the week before she competed with the Caribbean, and she played effectively to earn a draw.
Guyana stood tall among the competition. I believe Allicock would have made an emphatic statement for this nation if we had gone through to the finals against Barbados. The games that he won, he won convincingly, with ease and efficiency. His opponents never stood a chance. He worked from board to clock like a machine and was always sure of his ability to come through.
I have encouraged the Bank of Guyana chess players to become members of the Guyana Chess Federation. I trust they would be inclined to do so, so that we can prevail in the next competition to be held in Jamaica.
The last word goes to the Organising Committee of the Bank of Guyana for the games. Whoever they were, they made Guyana look good on Saturday at the Sports Hall. The arrangements were par excellence, of the highest degree, and the Bank should feel pride in how things were professionally put in place for this event.
The Caribbean will remember this. Congratulations to the Governor and his staff. My grandmother used to say, when you see something good, talk about it.
