Sasha Shariff’s victory could not prevent Guyana’s women from losing 3–1 to Laos yesterday, but the country’s Open team returned from the Chess Olympiad’s rest day with a 3–1 win over Togo.
The contrasting seventh-round results in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, leave Guyana preparing for two African opponents on Thursday, September 24. The women will meet Mali, while the Open team takes on Nigeria.
Woman Candidate Master Shariff delivered the women’s lone success on Board Four, defeating the unrated Keosavangh Bouavone with the black pieces. Her second victory of the tournament took her individual score to 2½ points from five games.
Laos, however, won the other three boards to hand Guyana a second successive defeat following its narrow 2½–1½ loss to Japan before the one-day break.
On the top board, Guyana’s 1726-rated Woman Candidate Master Aditi Joshi was beaten by Woman Candidate Master Maly Inthavong, rated 1578.
Kataleya Sam, rated 1525, lost with black against the 1488-rated Manichith Namphet on Board Two. Ciel Clement, rated 1484, also suffered defeat, playing white against the 1461-rated Sihanath Souphaphone on Board Three.
Woman Candidate Master Jessica Callender was not in the round-seven lineup.
The result leaves the Georg Mohr-led women’s team on four match points in 161st position, with two wins and five losses. Guyana’s victories came against St Vincent and the Grenadines and Somalia, both by 3½–½ margins. Its other defeats were against Colombia, Andorra and Hong Kong, China.
There was better news in the Open section, where wins on the first two boards helped Guyana end a run of defeats against Luxembourg and Wales.
Candidate Master Sachin Pitamber overcame a small rating disadvantage to beat Yakini Tchouka with black on Board One. Pitamber entered the encounter rated 1991, compared with his opponent’s 2012.
Kyle Couchman followed with a Board Two victory over Kokou Difendramakada Jacques Ballebako. Playing white, the 2003-rated Guyanese defeated his 1820-rated opponent to record his second win of the event.
Candidate Master Taffin Khan drew with Lumen Paco Semeko on Board Three, while Keron Sandiford held Candidate Master Mikhail Strovskiy to a draw on Board Four, completing an unbeaten match for Guyana. FIDE Master Anthony Drayton sat out the encounter.
The Open team, captained by Aleksa Strikovic, now has six match points and occupies 131st position. Its three victories have come against New Caledonia, Macau, China, and Togo, with losses to Slovenia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Wales.
Pitamber leads the Open squad’s individual scoring with three points from six games. Couchman, Drayton and Sandiford each have 2½ points, while Khan has 1½.
For the women, Joshi has three points, Shariff 2½, Clement two, and Sam and Callender 1½ each.
Four rounds remain in the 11-round competition, which concludes on September 27.
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