Cayman’s female chess team walked away with a silver medal at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, which came to a close on Monday.
Malcolm Powell, secretary of the Cayman Islands Chess Federation, in an update on the team’s performance on Tuesday, said the women finished 123 out of 169 teams, improving on their initial ranking of 150.
The team, which consisted of Board 1 Laia Swaminathan, Board 2 Melinda Suico
Board 3 Zara Majid, Board 4 Anvita Niranja Patil and reserve Abbie McClenaghan, won the silver medal in their class as well as taking the prize for best classical dress uniform.
At the end of the international competition they had collected four wins, one draw and six losses.
This is the first time the Cayman Islands has sent a female team to the Olympiad.
Powell also noted that Swaminathan, the Cayman Islands women’s champion, Suico and Majid all qualified for a Woman Candidate Master title.
“These are the first players in the Cayman Islands to receive this distinguished title,” he said.
Cayman sent their four youngest players, who were also the youngest team in the tournament with an average age of 12½.
Cayman also sent the oldest open team in the Olympiad, with Clifford Shaw, 73, the oldest player in that section.
In the open section, Cayman finished 163 out of 188 teams, improving on its initial ranking of 179, finishing with three wins, one draw and seven losses.
The team comprised Board 1 Kuda Chinake, Board 2 Christopher Young CM, Board 3 Clifford Shaw, Board 4 Shaun Tracey and reserve Powell.
Players Kuda Chinake, Cayman Islands national champion, and Shaun Tracey, Cayman Islands Chess Federation president, both qualified for their Candidate Master, joining Christopher Young, who won his title in the 2022 Olympiad.
They are now the only three male players in the Cayman Islands to hold this distinguished title.
Chinake won the title playing on Board 1, which is very difficult, Powell explained.
Powell was the FIDE delegate at the international congress held 17-23 Sept. in conjunction with the Olympiad.
He won election for a four-year term, becoming one of only four members worldwide on the FIDE Verification Commission (Audit Committee).
This milestone marks the first time a FIDE Official is from the Cayman Islands Chess Federation.
“The above results breaks all expectations set for this Olympiad,” the Chess Federation said in a statement, adding it was grateful to the women’s team captain Ryan Blackwood, and the open team captain, Jomo Pitterson, as well as to delegation head Michelle Majid.
The Chess Olympiad’s opening ceremonies were held on 10 Sept. with the lighting of the Olympic Flame by Hungarian-born Judit Polgar, a Grand Master and top-rated female player for more than 24 years.
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