Recently elected president of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), Frankie Farley envisions Guyana hosting the 46th Chess Olympiad while focusing on the development of the sport at the youth level.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport, Farley said that he will meet with the new members of the federation to discuss how they will go about accomplishing this goal which will be accompanied by the construction of a “world-class chess facility.
“After discussions with members [of the federation], I think we can host the Olympiad… by then we have oil and gas [and] a dynamic economic environment… I think we can sell and lobby as a small state. You know currently only huge states have access to the Olympiad, why not Guyana, we could do it, we will create a world class facility on the resort, my intention is to build a world-class chess stadium and use it as a door into sport tourism.” Next year, the Olympiad will be hosted in Russia while the Biennial event will be hosted in Belarus in 2022. However, Farley was cognizant of the requirements to pull off an extravagant tournament of this nature. “So many great ideas we have, ultimately I think we can do it, we have the right team in place, as long as we have this, great plans, great financial experts and my background as an engineer and architect and working in New York for the last 20 years I think I have the experience to develop those plans going forward,” Farley said.
