The work to promote chess must continue

Hikaru Nakumura (Photo: FIDE/Lennart Ootes)

Now that the matter of the ousting of Frankie Farley from the presidency of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) is being addressed by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), we should continue with the business of circulating the game of chess to the general public. We have a long mountain to climb if we intend to make chess a national pastime, or as close to it as possible.

The Chess Olympiad is a sure way of gaining titles for our players, and, therefore, we should not wait until an Olympiad year comes around to begin our preparations. On the contrary, we should get on with the business of tournaments and continue to groom our juniors to become more skillful as Marcia Lee and Anand Raghunauth have been doing over the years. These two officials of the GCF have donated a lot of their time to stimulate the popularity of chess. The latest is having it played at the Giftland Mall on Saturdays; senior players encourage the public through the hosting of simultaneous exhibitions.