China and Russia?were crowned the new men’s and women’s champions while the Barbados men’s team finished 126th and the women 120th when the curtain came down on the 41st World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway, on Thursday.
For China, it took a final round 3-1 victory over Poland to give them their first Olympiad men’s title with 19 match points. Hungry drew 2-2 with Ukraine to end in second position with 17. India also finished with 17 match points but due to a weaker tie-break, took third place after a big 3 ½ to ½ win against Uzbekistan.
The Bajan men suffered a considerable slip in their standings, after losing 0-4 to Jordan, to place 126th out of 177 teams with nine match points.
The best of the English-speaking Caribbean men’s teams was Jamaica whose final round 2 ½ to 1 ½ win against Palestine placed them 87th with 11 match points. The Bahamas, returning the international stage for the first time since 1990, were the next best after holding Nicaragua to a 2-2 draw to place 118th with 10 match points.
In the women, Russia retained their title by beating Bulgaria 2½ to 1½ to top the standings with 20 match points.
China, once again had to settle for second place with 18 match points having been held to a 2-2 draw by Ukraine. Ukraine, who also ended on 18 match points, were third due to the Chinese women having the better tie break score.
For the Bajan women, they ended their Olympiad campaign with a hard fought 2-2 tie against Mozambique.
Winning for Barbados on boards three and four were Woman Candidate Master Sheena Ramsay and CARIFTA Girls Under-20 bronze medallist Lydia Nurse. Woman Candidate Master Katrina Blackman and National women’s champion Donna Murray lost on boards one and two to give Mozambique the equalising points to tie the match.
The Barbados women placed 120th out of 136 teams with seven match points while the Jamaican women joined their male counterparts by being the pick of the English-speaking Caribbean placing 87th with 10 match points. Trinidad and Tobago women scored nine match points to place 102nd.
As the Barbados teams pack their bags to return home after a difficult Olympiad, Nurse will return as the country’s newest Woman Candidate Master after reaching the qualifying standard in her Olympiad debut. (PR/EZS)
