The journey of UG’s chess team

Some of the greatest things have been achieved through teamwork, because someone ‘has your back’ while you push your limits and achieve something that makes you all proud. It was this level of teamwork that led the University of Guyana’s Chess Club to overcome all their obstacles and securing third place at the recently-concluded University Games in Colombia. The team was selected following UG Sports Department’s King and Queen Scrabble and Chess Competitions in November last year, with Andre Jagnandan, Davion Mars, Triston Carter, Sidney Nelson and the lone female, Anicia Patterson, ultimately representing UG at the Games. In the competition held in November 2018, newcomer Patterson defeated Britney Bovell to be crowned the Chess Queen. The young chess player was hailed by her coach as having an aggressive style of play. Patterson dominated her opponents with ease as she pushed them back into a corner, applying her killer instinct to announce her presence. In the end, Patterson was able to secure herself a spot on the chess team as the lone female competitor. However, the reigning chess queen was unable to record a point in any of the categories, as this was her first international exposure. While she may not have gained the results she wanted, Patterson pushed beyond her limit to accomplish something many could only dream of. The first thing that really took the team by surprise was the Colombian temperatures, and even though the team was informed of the climate before they left, experiencing it first-hand was an entirely different story altogether. Even though the team had packed for the cold weather, to some extent their mental endurance was affected. Nevertheless, the team persisted. Mars retained his crown as chess king in November 2018 by defeating Joshua Gopaul in best- of-three games play. Mars asserted his dominance and won two consecutive games. From there, he went on to bag his first tournament in 2019, steamrolling the competition, with an astounding 6.5/7 points to finish the event undefeated with six victories and one draw. Some of the opponents he defeated were former National Junior Champion Saeed Ali, Andre Jagnandan, national player Chino Chung, Ronan Lee, Aravinda Singh and National Junior Champion Joshua Gopaul, whom he had also beaten in the final of the 2018/2019 UG Chess championship. From there, he continued his fine form bagging wins in the run-up to the University Games in Colombia. At the Games, Mars gained 3/5 points in the male classical category to help the team secure third place; his only two losses came against very strong opposition in the form of International Master Luis Blandon (rated 2243) from Colombia in the first round and Gaviria Felipe (rated 2066) in the third round. Mars won the remaining games, securing himself a bronze medal. For Nelson, his 2018 season commenced in an unorthodox fashion, as he was unable to place in the University of Guyana Chess Competition as he was defeated by Mars. But losing to Mars did not stop Nelson as he copped second in one of the first chess tournaments in 2019. The newcomer was able to finish on 6/7 points in the senior category, forcing the in-form Mars to a draw. Even though Nelson played in UG tournaments, this was his first-ever Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) tournament, where he claimed wins over Chung, Gopaul and Ali, as well as Olympiad player Roberto Neto among others. In Colombia, Nelson was also able to bag a total of three bronze medals and was able to amass two valuable points in the classical senior male team category to take the team to six points, thus securing their podium finish. His no-retreat, no-surrender attitude led him to dig deep, pulling out all the stops to earn himself important draws and wins in the Rapids and Blitz categories to hand his team two more bronze medals. Jagnandan, a newcomer just like Nelson, has etched his name in the minds of Guyanese chess fanatics, as his rise to fame did not come overnight. Jagnandan’s first competition came at the University Chess Competition, where he placed third, from there he went on to claim another third in the first chess tournament of 2019. He claimed a total of 3.5/7 points in the junior category, but that was just the tip of the iceberg for Jagnandan as he went on to dethrone National Chess Champion Joshua Gopaul. After seven intense rounds in the Sasha Cells National Junior Chess Championships, the 19-year-old Jagnandan walked out victorious as he amassed a score of 5.5 score and 24 points. In Colombia, his bronze medals came as a result of his training continuously, however, he faced some major challenges as the cold weather affected him tremendously. Jagnandan was forced to stay up late at night and play games in the cold so as to become acclimatised, and due to this, he was able to pick up more wins. Carter has shown to be one of the top minds at the University of Guyana, as he is not only versed in the area of chess, but as a football player as well. While Carter was unable to book a spot in the University Chess Competition in 2018 and 2019 at the University Games in Colombia, the experience for him was a humbling one as he learnt from some of the best chess players in the Caribbean and can only hope he is able to apply what he has learnt. Mars noted that the team could’ve placed higher if they had converted some opportunities, relating that there were many times when they had a solid structure and a very good position, but failed to either save or secure a full point. However, they were still able to band together and fight their way to the podium. It was all the teamwork that led to their successful showing and next year, it will just be bigger and better.