Flight delays lasting more than 13 hours contributed to a difficult opening round for Guyana’s Women’s team at the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where the country also faced a demanding challenge in the Open section.
Guyana’s Women’s team lost 4-0 to Colombia after only two of the four games were contested. Kataleya Sam and Ciel Clement arrived in the country late because of the lengthy travel disruptions and were forced to forfeit their games.
Their opponents, Women’s International Masters Valentina Argote Heredia and Ingris Rivera, were awarded victories by default.
In the two games played over the board, Women’s Candidate Master Sasha Shariff faced Women’s International Master Jorcerys Montilla Reyes but was unable to overcome the 556-point rating difference. Shariff was rated 1538, while Montilla Reyes carried a rating of 2094.
Women’s Candidate Master Jessica Callender, rated 1552, also lost to Women’s Grandmaster Beatriz Irene Franco Valencia, who entered the match with a rating of 2038.
Colombia’s team average was listed at 2104, more than 500 points above Guyana’s average of 1585. Georg Mohr is guiding the Guyanese Women’s team as captain.
Guyana’s Open team also suffered a 4-0 defeat after being paired with a strong Slovenian lineup featuring two Grandmasters and two International Masters.
Grandmaster Anton Demchenko, rated 2580, defeated Kyle Couchman, while International Master Matic Lavrencic overcame Candidate Master Taffin Khan.
FIDE Master Anthony Drayton lost to Grandmaster Matej Sebenik, and Keron Sandiford was beaten by International Master Pierre Barbot.
Khan carried Guyana’s highest rating in the round at 2005, followed by Couchman and Drayton at 2003. Sandiford was rated 1874. Slovenia’s lowest-rated player in the match was Lavrencic at 2479.
The result gave Slovenia two match points, while Guyana, ended the opening round without a board point.
The Chess Olympiad features separate Open and Women’s competitions, with both being contested over 11 rounds using the Swiss-system format. The tournament is scheduled to conclude on September 27.
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