First of Guyanese delegation arrives in Chennai ahead of Chess Olympiad

MTV News Update's Jessica Callender and Guyana Chess Federation President Frankie Farley arrived in Chennai, India early on Tuesday morning ahead of the FIDE Chess Olympiad and Congress this week.

A ten member team of Guyana's best chess players will be competing in the 44th edition of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Chess Olympiad from July 28 to August 10 in Tamil Nadu, Chennai.

The first member of the team, Jessica Callender, is the first to arrive in India for Guyana. She will be followed by the remainder of the team on Wednesday.

Also in this year's delegation is Guyana Chess Federation President Frankie Farley, who is representing Guyana at this year's FIDE Congress.

The Congress runs concurrently with the tournament. This is where executive members of various National Chess Federations meet to discuss the global Governing of the sport.

The other nine team members representing Guyana on the most competitive stage for the sport are; Ethan Lee, Roberto Neto, Loris Nathoo, Taffin Khan, Anthony Drayton, Sasha Shariff, Nellisha Johnson, women's champion Pooja Lam, and Anaya Lall.

Notably, Lall is not only the youngest player in the delegation at just 12 years old, she is also the only Deaf chess player to represent Guyana at an international event.

The team will play their first round on Friday July 29 with their opponents still to be determined.

On Thursday July 28, the tournament will officially be declared open with a ceremony involving a march past of the various competing nations.