Guyana ended the 2026 Chess Olympiad with contrasting final-round results, finishing 132nd in the Open division and 152nd in the women’s competition after play concluded on Sunday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The Open team beat Jersey 2½–1½ to close with 10 match points among 206 teams. The women lost 3–1 to The Bahamas and finished with eight match points in a field of 189.
Guyana’s Open placing was five positions above their starting rank of 137th. The women, who began ranked 146th, finished six places lower.
Sasha Shariff provided the women’s lone victory in their closing match. Playing with black on board three, the Woman Candidate Master defeated fellow Woman Candidate Master Daijah Johnson.
The Bahamas won the other three boards. Woman FIDE Master Polina Karelina defeated Woman Candidate Master Aditi Joshi on board one, Woman Candidate Master Nelissa Thomas overcame Kataleya Sam on board two, and Woman Candidate Master Chika Pride beat Woman Candidate Master Jessica Callender on board four.
That result prevented Guyana from following up their 3–1 victory over San Marino in the previous round. The women, under captain Georg Mohr, finished with four wins, seven defeats and 18½ board points.
Their earlier victories came against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Somalia and Mali. The 4–0 win over Mali was their biggest success, with Joshi, Sam, Ciel Clement and Callender all contributing victories.
In the Open division, Kyle Couchman and FIDE Master Anthony Drayton supplied the two wins that helped Guyana recover from a narrow penultimate-round defeat to Jamaica.
Couchman defeated Paul Carpenter with black on board two, while Drayton won with white against Gary Clark on board three. Candidate Master Sachin Pitamber drew with Candidate Master Jem Gurner on the top board, giving Guyana the additional half-point needed for victory.
Jersey’s only win came on board four, where James Auckland defeated Keron Sandiford.
The result brought captain Aleksa Strikovic’s team to five victories and six defeats, with 19½ board points. Guyana’s other wins were against New Caledonia, Macau, China, Togo and Mali.
Couchman, Drayton and Pitamber each finished with 4½ individual points. Joshi and Clement led the women’s scoring with four apiece.
At the top of the final standings, Uzbekistan claimed the Open title, with India second and Germany third. China won the women’s competition ahead of Kazakhstan and India.
The 11-round Olympiad ran from September 16 to 27.
Discussion