Hosting Umada Cup is historic, says Dr Anthony
Representatives of the various participating countries observe as Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony makes the first move against National Junior Champion Haifeng Su to signal the start of the tournament.
Representatives of the various participating countries observe as Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony makes the first move against National Junior Champion Haifeng Su to signal the start of the tournament.

THE prestigious Umada Cup chess tournament got underway yesterday morning in Georgetown, after Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony moved the first pawn to officially signal the start of the event, hosted for the first time in Guyana.Moments before declaring the tournament open by engaging national junior champion Haifeng Su in a friendly game, Dr Anthony spoke glowingly of Guyana being able to host the event, which is in its fifth year.
“This Cup itself is a very historic one for Guyana. It’s the first time we’re having so many overseas players and it’s the first time we’re hosting the Umada Cup.
We’re very grateful that the organisers have seen it fit for us to host the tournament here in Guyana and I’m sure the local chess federation would do its best to ensure that you enjoy our hospitality and of course you have the conducive environment to play some good chess,” Dr Anthony told the players -at the opening.
Dr Anthony also highlighted some of the benefits that can be derived from hosting the tournament, one of which local players were able to gauge their progress against foreign counterparts.
“We always look forward to having our regional brothers here with us because it allows us to maybe get a good feel of where we are in the game…because when we play against other competitive players we are able to see how we’re ranking against those players.
A lot of times when we have our own local internal competitions, we’re not able to get that gauge of where we are in the game, but I think competitions like these allow us to set that benchmark,” Minister Anthony explained.
The tournament, set to conclude on Monday, will be contested in two categories: one for players in the Open Section and another for those in the Challenger Section. Both sections will be played under the Swiss System for nine rounds and will be FIDE rated.

First day update
Meanwhile, at the end of day one, the lone Guyanese in the Open Section, Taffin Khan, lost to Trinidad and Tobago’s FIDE Master Ryan Harper.
In the other games of the Open Section, Vishnu Singh (T&T) defeated Roger Matoewi (Suriname); Orlando Husbands (Barbados) defeated Darvi Ferraras (The Dominican Republic); Martyn Del Castilo (Barbados) and Malaku Lorne (Jamaica) got half a point each from their clash, while Kevin Cupid (T&T) and Christopher Guzman (The Dominican Republic) earned a similar result in their game.
In the Challenger Section, seven Guyanese recorded victories on a solid showing by the host country. Wendell Muesa defeated compatriot Roberto Neto; Kriskal Persaud defeated Avikaar Malgie of Suriname; Keith Simpson defeated Guyanese Anthony Drayton; Haifeng Su defeated countryman Davion Mars; Glenford Corlette defeated Aditi Soondarsingh of Trinidad and Tobago; Ronuel Greenidge defeated fellow Guyanese Rashad Hussain; and Maria Thomas defeated Calvin Finkie of Suriname.
The other Guyanese in the Challenger Section- Errol Tiwari, Trenton Bennett and David Khan- suffered losses, while Loris Nathoo was a no-show for his clash with Jamaica’s Andrew Mellace.
In other results, Esan Wilstshire (T&T) defeated Reyna Frijde (Suriname), Suriname’s Joel Frijde defeated fellow countryman Ishvar Ramlal and Martin Mikel (T&T) defeated Alisha Jaipersaud (Suriname).
The tournament is being organised under the auspices of current president of FIDE, the world governing body for chess, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. A grand payout package of US$16,000 is at stake.

In the Open Section, the winner will cart off US$2,500, while the second place finisher will get US$1,500 and third US$1,000. The winner of the Challenger Section is entitled to US$1,500, with the runner-up copping US$1,000 and third US$750. In the case of a tie, the sum of the prizes involved will be shared equally.

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