Guyana experienced mixed fortunes in Round 10 of the 46th Chess Olympiad yesterday, with the women producing a strong 3-1 victory over San Marino while the Open team narrowly lost 2½-1½ to Jamaica in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Kataleya Sam, Ciel Clement and Jessica Callender delivered the wins that carried the women to their latest team victory.
Sam defeated Mariane Biordi on the second board, Clement overcame Cristina Giannini and Callender beat Dorina Capicchioni. On Board One, Aditi Joshi was defeated by Elena Krasnova.
The victory was Guyana’s fourth team success of the women’s campaign. Their previous wins came against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Somalia and Mali, including a clean 4-0 sweep of Mali in Round Eight.
Clement and Joshi lead Guyana’s individual scoring with four points each. Sam and Callender have earned 3.5 points apiece, while Shariff has 2.5. The women enter the final round with eight match points.
In the Open section, Pitamber produced Guyana’s biggest result of the round when he defeated Jamaica’s Joshua Christie, who entered the contest with a 2216 rating.
Drayton added another half-point after drawing with Raheem Glaves, but defeats for Khan against Shreyas Smith and Sandiford against Jaden Shaw allowed Jamaica to claim the match 2½-1½.
Pitamber now has four points from eight games and has recorded a 2155 performance rating. His campaign has included victories against Nicolas Douyere, Yakini Tchouka and Christie, along with draws against Grandmaster Andreas Kelires and Tong Kuan Mak.
Couchman, Drayton and Sandiford have each scored 3.5 points during the tournament, while Khan has 2.5. The Open team also carries eight match points into the final round.
Guyana will close its campaign today. The Open team faces Jersey, while the women will finish against the Bahamas.
The Chess Olympiad is an 11-round Swiss-system team competition being held in Samarkand from September 16-27.
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