Greenidge picks up major win in race for Olympiad spot

CANDIDATE Master Ronuel Greenidge improved his chances of securing a place at the upcoming Chess Olympiad later this year.
Greenidge secured an unbeaten run to win the Chess Grand Prix 4, which was staged on Sunday on Thomas Lands, Georgetown.
Greenidge scored five wins and three draws to comfortably secure the first-place trophy and cash reward.

Greenidge is sixth on the list on 114 points, with the top five players set to represent Guyana along with five females at the Chess Olympics.
The top male contenders are Candidate Master Taffin Khan, who has the runaway lead on 282 points after a series of competitions. Khan is followed by Keron Sandiford on 188, Fide Master Anthony Drayton on 150 points, and Loris Nathoo on 149 points, and fifth-placed Sachin Pitamber on 125 points.

Over the weekend in the eight-round contest, Loris Nathoo was Second Place with junior Sachin Pitamber third place.
Top female Aditi Joshi outperformed her counterparts, and was awarded the Best Female Prize.
Joshi is second on the qualification list with 168 points behind Jessica Callender on 186 points.

Third is Sasha Shariff on 124, with Ciel Clements with 104 points for fourth, and Treskole Archibald in fifth with 96.
The Chess Grand Prix Series of tournaments was introduced by the Guyana Chess Federation to give players intense competition to earn points and gain qualification in preparation for the World Chess Olympiad.
The 2024 Olympiad is set for September 10-23 in Budapest, Hungary.