Jamaica gear up for World Chess Olympiad
TEN of Jamaica’s strongest chess players will leave the island in less than a week, for Budapest, Hungary, where they will compete at the 45th World Chess Olympiad, from September 10-23.
This international team event will see over 190 countries participating in the open section, and over 180 countries in the women’s section. Jamaica will be represented in both sections.
The Jamaica Open team will be led by FIDE Master (FM) Joshua Christie on Board 1 and includes FM Shreyas Smith, FM Jaden Shaw, and debutants FM Raheem Glaves and Darren McKennis.
The women’s team will be led by Woman FIDE Master (WFM) Adani Clarke on Board 1 and includes Woman International Master (WIM) Rachel Miller, debutant WFM Raehanna Brown, Gabriella Watson, and another debutant Arielle McKoy.
FM Warren Elliott will be the accompanying coach for the open team while International Master (IM) Shane Matthews will accompany the women’s team as coach. Jamaica’s delegation is completed by head of strategic planning for Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF) Richard Shaw, who has been assigned as head of delegation; JCF Secretary Maxine Brown; and deputy head of delegation and JCF Past President Ian Wilkinson KC, who will act as delegate for the FIDE Congress and General Assembly that will take place alongside the Olympiad.
The World Chess Olympiad is a biennial event that has been held since 1927. The defending champion is Uzbekistan while the defending women’s team champion is Ukraine.
Jamaica debuted at the World Chess Olympiad in 1978 (Buenos Aires, Argentina) when we fielded only a men’s team. In 1984 a Jamaica women’s team debuted at the games in Thessaloniki, Greece.