Guyana began its international chess campaign on Thursday at the Olympiad in Chennai, India, with its full ten-member squad in place.
The 188 participating teams in the Open category, and the 162 Women’s teams seeking glory for their countries are from all five continents. The USA is the clear favourite to win the Open because its team members have a 2700-plus FIDE rank, while India is tipped to win the Women’s tournament.
Russia and China are non-participants at this year’s Olympiad and this makes the competition weaker. Both countries have won gold no less than nine times in the past 11 Olympiads since 1998. China won the Open and Women’s titles at the last face-to-face Olympiad in Batumi in 2018.
