At the start of the Engineering Construction Incorporated (ECI) chess competition two Saturdays ago, this column enquired whether the tournament should be considered the elimination one for the selection of players for 2016 Chess Olympiad. President of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) Irshad Mohammed responded and noted that the ECI, in addition to other tournaments, would be used as the determining factor to field a men and women’s 
Olympiad team. The selection of players would be based on the consistency of results. The response was difficult to understand and manifestly incomprehensible.
One would have imagined that a much publicized chess competition would have been held to determine the participants. Much publicized’ because the ECI competition was sprung as a surprise on players. It was the Thursday prior to the Saturday commencement of the ECI chess competition that some players were notified. Therefore, it stands to reason, the ECI competition cannot be used as a yardstick to select our Olympiad personnel. In chess, choosing the participants for the Olympiad is vital.
