Bermuda Chess Teams Compete In Hungary
Bermuda’s national chess teams proudly represented the island at the 45th World Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary.
The Olympiad, held from September 10 to 23, marked the 100-year celebration of FIDE, the world chess governing body, and was the most international Olympiad in history, featuring a record-breaking 197 teams from 195 national federations in the open section and 183 teams from 181 federations in the women’s tournament.
In total, 1,893 players participated.
Bermuda’s teams battled through 11 gruelling rounds each, facing fierce opposition, including Grandmasters, International Masters, FIDE Masters, and Candidate Masters.
The women’s team, consisting of Zuzana Kovacova, Olga Goncharova, Yasmin Flanagan, Shiela Cancino, and Kaelyn Fleming, faced off against teams such as Latvia, Kuwait, Jordan, Tanzania, and the Maldives.
Meanwhile, the open team, featuring Sergey Goncharov, Don Dacres, Sami Lill, Dimitri Goncharov, and Nathan Dennis, played challenging matches against Paraguay, Nicaragua, Barbados, Gabon, and Cambodia.
The head of delegation was Nigel Freeman and the delegate was Andrea Marshall-Harris.
Bermuda celebrated two new Candidate Master titles at the Olympiad.
Shiela Cancino scored 4.5/10 and Dimitri Goncharov scored 5.5/9, adding to the roster of titles held by the team, including those held by Sergey Goncharov, Don Dacres, Sami Lill, and Zuzana Kovacova.
Both Kaelyn Fleming, a Bermuda High School head student, and Nathan Dennis, an senior accountant at HSBC, participated in their first Chess Olympiad and managed impressive wins.
Both teams played strong competitors, including powerhouse nations and talented emerging teams.
The overall winners of the Olympiad were India, who achieved a historic double gold, winning both the open and women’s sections.
India’s open team lost only one game in 44 matches, underlining their chess dominance. Bermuda finished with seven match points, 14 behind India.
The Bermuda teams were captained by Women Grandmaster Alexandra Dimitrijevic [women’s team] and Grandmaster Andrei Maksimenko [open team].
Bermuda also hosted the famous “Bermuda Party”, a staple at the Chess Olympiad. It featured thousands of attendees including many of the world’s top players.
