When Guyana defeated the Bahamas 6-0 at last month’s 2020 International Chess Federation Online Olympiad, it signalled a boost in chess for our nation although we failed to proceed to a further qualifying round.
The two featured games saw Ethan Lee taking down Mart Aidan and Maria Varona-Thomas scoring a massive victory over Nelissa Thomas in eight moves! Lee fought by the book, taking his moves in sequence, whilst Varona-Thomas was devastating in her handling of a faulty Ruy Lopez opening. Neither Bahamian stood a chance. Both games should be replayed especially by our young exponents of the ancient game.
At the wider 2020 Online Olympiad, which ended Sunday last, India tied with Russia for first place. India fielded a strong team, especially its Under-20 youths. On the other hand, Russia led the way with seasoned and budding grandmasters.
Event: 2020 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad
Date: August 2, 2020
White: Ethan Lee (1324) Guyana
Black: Mart Aidan (1262) Bahamas
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.h3 Bh5 7.O-O Bd6 8.c3 Bxf4 9.exf4 O-O 10.Nbd2 Bxf3 11.Nxf3 Qd6 12.Ne5 Nd7 13.Bd3 f6 14.Qh5 Ncxe5 15.Bxh7+ Kh8 16.Bg6+ Kg8 17.Qh7#. 1-0.
White: Maria Varona-Thomas, Guyana
Black: Nelissa Thomas, Bahamas
1. e4 e5 2. f4 f6 3. fxe5 fxe5 4. Qh5+ Ke7 5. Qxe5+ Kf7 6. Bc4+ d5 7. Bxd5+ Kg6 8. Qg3+ Black resigns. 1-0.
