There was an air of excited anticipation when the 2022 Guyana Chess Olympiad teams were announced last Sunday at the Park Vue Hotel as part of an awards presentation ceremony. There were two reasons why: First because the Olympiad is being held in Chennai, India, the land of its birth, and second, because our representatives will experience international competition.
The continent of Asia seldom gets the opportunity to host a Chess Olympiad. Before now, only the United Arab Emirates (1986) and the Philippines (1992) were hosts to Chess Olympiads among Asian countries. Closer to home, Cuba hosted the Olympiad in 1966 and Argentina in 1939 and 1978. For the most part, Olympiads are hosted by European nations.
