We have a fair idea of the composition of the team that will represent Guyana at the Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia in September. The hopefuls have directly chosen themselves. In whichever way the equation is juggled, names which had emerged previously, keep re-emerging. Our two national champions: Wendell Meusa and Maria Varona-Thomas, are constants. At the recent Clash of Champions tournament, Meusa faltered when he dropped a game to a theoretically equipped Loris Nathoo and drew with the improved Roberto Neto.
On the other hand, Yolander Persaud executed her moves flawlessly, winning her full quota of games. Admittedly, in chess, losses and draws occur, no matter how strong a player happens to be. That Persaud played flawlessly, is assuredly commendable. In Varona-Thomas’s case, she is way ahead of her female counterparts in chess acumen. I was pleasantly surprised when Alli held Varona-Thomas to a deserved draw during the National Chess Championship.
