A draw against a grandmaster rated 541 points above him made Sachin Pitamber Guyana’s standout performer in the Open section yesterday, while the country’s women delivered a convincing 3½–½ victory over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in round three of the 46th Chess Olympiad.
Pitamber’s result prevented a clean sweep by Cyprus, who won the other three boards to defeat Guyana 3½–½ in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Playing with the white pieces on board one, the Guyanese Candidate Master, rated 1991, shared the point with Grandmaster Andreas Kelires, rated 2532.
The rest of Guyana’s Open team faced higher-rated FIDE Masters. Kyle Couchman, rated 2003, lost to Rafail Antoniou, rated 2244, while Candidate Master Taffin Khan, rated 2005, was beaten by Konstantinos Michaelides, rated 2227.
On the fourth board, FIDE Master Anthony Drayton, rated 2003, lost to Alexandros Isaakidis, rated 2241, completing Cyprus’ victory.
Guyana’s women enjoyed a more productive afternoon, recording three wins and a draw in their Caribbean encounter.
Women’s Candidate Master Aditi Joshi led the effort on the top board, using the white pieces to defeat Ronnia Durham-Balcombe. Joshi entered the contest rated 1726, compared with her opponent’s 1601.
Ciel Clement, rated 1484, also won with white, defeating Molissa Francita Ashton on board three. Women’s Candidate Master Sasha Shariff, rated 1538, added another full point by beating Kazene Pierre with black on board four.
Kataleya Sam, rated 1525, drew with Stacy Baptiste-King on the second board, ensuring Guyana finished the match without an individual defeat. Baptiste-King, Ashton and Pierre were all listed as unrated in the tournament records.
The contrasting results set up different tasks for Guyana in Saturday’s fourth round. The women will aim to build on their convincing performance when they face Hong Kong, China, while the men will seek a response against Macau, China. Both fixtures are scheduled for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in Samarkand.
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