In its continued effort to ensure that Guyanese athletes are afforded every opportunity to represent the Golden Arrowhead, the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCY&S) and the National Sports Commission (NSC), has supported the Guyana Chess Federation team for the 45th Chess Olympiad.
This prestigious spectacle is set to take place in Budapest, Hungary, from September 10-23, 2024.
Hungary is the nation that hosted the first unofficial Chess Olympiad for teams in 1926 and won the first two official editions in 1927 and 1928.
Minister of Sport Charles Ramson Jr., in the company of Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle handed over the Government’s contribution of G$2.5 million to President of the Guyana Chess Federation, Anand Ragunauth.
Whilst congratulating President Ragunauth for the strides that Chess has been making in the past few years, Minister Ramson underscored the Government’s commitment to the development of chess and other sports in Guyana.
Minister Ramson emphasised that Government will continue to empower athletes by investing in their development, not only in building new facilities and refurbishing those already existing, but by making sure that they are enabled to compete at the highest possible levels they can, reaffirming that this is a commitment of His Excellency, across the sporting spectrum.
President Ragunauth expressed the gratitude of his Federation for the unflinching support of President Ali and the Government of Guyana.
“We are so grateful for this timely intervention which has relieved the pressure of meeting the demands of travel to this prestigious event. The commitment by President Ali in getting the team the additional funds show chess is being recognised for its hard work and government is committed in creating opportunities for athletes to compete at the highest level.”
Team Guyana is made up of five males and an equal number of female players who qualified after competing in the numerous tournaments where they gained points according to their performances. The five top highest cumulative scores for each gender qualified for the team.
A team captain Ronuel Greenidge has been appointed for the male team and an international Grandmaster Georg Mohr will captain the female team.
Team Guyana: (Female)- WCM Jessica Callender, Aditi Joshi, WCM Sasha Shariff, Ciel Clement and Treskole Archibald; (Male)- CM Taffin Khan, Keron Sandiford, FM Anthony Drayton, Loris Nathoo and Sachin Pitamber.
