Playing in his first Chess Olympiad at Tromso, Norway, 15-year-old CM Joshua Johnson produced the best performance among T&T's five-member men's team.
According to the T&TCA's official report, the Fatima College student scored 4.5 points from nine games as compared to national champion FM Ryan Harper who gained five points from 11 games. Other scores were: Ravishen Singh 2.5 from eight games, Adrian Winter Atwell 2.5 from nine games and FM Mario Merritt two from seven games.
The men's team finished in the 132nd position out of 172 entries. It had an unimpressive overall record of four victories, one draw and 6 losses. A comparison with results of the past nine Olympiads reveals that T&T's men's performance at Tromso was the very worst ever, eclipsing the 125th position gained at Dresden in 2008.
Comments in the report seem to indicate, however, that all was not well among members of the men's team. While the players had "very friendly relationships with each other, they still see each other as rivals on a national level." What does this remark really mean, DR is left to wonder. It continues: "Probably this is only natural, but a lot could be gained by more cooperation and seeing the rest of the world as sporting rivals instead."
The goal, says the report, "should not be to have a 2100 rating and keeping your spot on the national team, but to reach a 2200 and 2300 rating and more"
Reading this criticism, DR is forced to wonder at the mental or psychological approach of our male players to this premier world tournament. Did they go to Tromso to give of their best, to seek honour and glory for their country among the globe's chess-playing nations? Or did they simply go to enjoy the ride? After all, the city of Tromso is a beautiful place, as DR has been told. If team spirit was lacking among our players, if they had a deficient view of their sporting rivals, then DR can only conclude that either their mental preparation was woefully deficient or the "old trips mentality" was still alive and well among them.
As far as DR sees it, a necessary goal of T&T players selected for the Olympiad should be to gain maximum strength as a team by their open and selfless collaboration. The fact is, selfishness and rivalry among members of any national sporting team is a recipe for disaster.
Small wonder then that our men players have established a new low for T&T's results at the Olympiad.
The T&T Chess Association, of course, has an important lesson to learn from this sad outcome. While players qualify to represent their country at the Olympiad by means of their performance in the national championship and other major local tournaments, the Association simply cannot take it for granted that they are truly mentally prepared to participate in this ultimate international contest, not simply as participants but, more vitally, as representatives of our country.
Indeed, if they are given specialist coaching to sharpen their play, then, it seems to DR, they should also be prepared psychologically to deal with the responsibilities of playing for their homeland.
In light of these official comments, it is painful to reflect that most of our men players at Tromso were virtual veterans of the Olympiad, three of them having played in this prestigious tournament no less than seven times! Clearly this is a fact that needs to be carefully analysed, for it seems to dispel any idea that the quality of chess, even among our most talented players, is actually improving.
The performance of our women's team, oddly enough, gives us somewhat greater hope for the future. As the report notes, "This was the youngest team to have represented T&T at any Olympiad, having an average age of 17 years." Playing several stronger teams, our women won three matches, drew three and lost five. They earned a total of nine match points and finished 17 places above their 119th placement in the 2012 Olympiad held in Istanbul, Turkey.
"The goals set before the tournament were reached by almost all players," the report noted about our women. WCM Javanna Smith scored 5.5 points from ten games, confirming her position as T&T national women's champion. WCM Aditi Soondarsingh finished with five out of ten, Gabriella Johnson who earned the WCM title also gained five out of ten while Della Marie Walcott and Najarah Rahaman both ended with 1.5 from seven.
DR can only hope that the overall implications of our performance at Tromso would not be lost on the Association.