BUDAPEST, Hungary, (CMC )– Chess teams from the Caribbean faced a baptism of fire in the opening round of the 45th Chess Olympiad which got underway here on Tuesday.
In an all-Caribbean matchup, Costa Rica was the only winner in the first round of the Open section, as they conquered Antigua & Barbuda 3-1.

The Dominican Republic, the highest rated country in the region at 94 out of 197 teams in the Open section, was blanked 4-0 by third-ranked China, while Trinidad and Tobago, which is ranked one spot below the Dominican Republic was defeated 3.5-0.5 by Uzbekistan, who are ranked fourth.
The 107th ranked Jamaicans were beaten 4-0 by Spain, Barbados was blanked 4-0 by Montenegro, Guyana went down to Hungary (C) 4-0, while Bermuda was also beaten by Paraguay by the same margin.

St Lucia fared a bit better, losing 3-1 to the Faroe Islands, Dominica lost 4-0 to Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan dominated Bahamas 4-0, Cayman Islands were defeated 3-1 by the United Arab Emirates, St Vincent and the Grenadines were dismissed 3.5-0.5 by South Africa and Grenada lost 4-0 to Indonesia.
In the women’s division, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica both recorded victories.

The Dominican Republic defeated the US Virgin Islands 4-0, while Costa Rica thumped St Kitts and Nevis 4-0.
Apart from that victory, Caribbean teams did not fare much better with Jamaica losing 3-5.0.5 to top ranked India, Trinidad and Tobago going down 4-0 to Armenia, Barbados went down to Switzerland 3.5-0.5, Slovakia defeated the Bahamas 4-0, and Dominica was defeated 4-0 by Algeria.
The second round of the competition gets underway today.