An 11-member Saint Lucia delegation is competing in the 46th Chess Olympiad, with full entries in the open and women’s events in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The tournament runs from September 16 to 27, and eight team members left for Central Asia on Saturday.
Head of delegation Tesa St Ange leads a seasoned group that includes seven players with international experience.
The open squad comprises Candidate Master Kaieem Elisee, SLCF president Sixtus Gabriel, Justin James, Arvin Nicholas, and Daniel Nunez. On the women’s team are Woman Candidate Masters Tris-Ann Richards and Chelsea Wahid, as well as Sibani Elumalai, Vernesa James and Kiara Lambert.
This campaign follows national team appearances in Chennai, India, in 2022, and Budapest, Hungary, in 2024. In Chennai, Saint Lucia held higher-seeded teams such as Nicaragua and Cape Verde to 2-2 draws. At Budapest, the open team climbed 23 places above their starting seed to finish 146th. The delegation also won the official award for Best Sports Team Uniform.
Individual performances have steadily raised the squad’s competitive benchmark. In Budapest, Tris-Ann Richards scored 7.5/9 on Board 1, and Chelsea Wahid scored 6.0/11 to earn the Woman Candidate Master (WCM) title directly from the tournament.
Alongside Candidate Master Kaieem Elisee on the open board, these experienced competitors give Saint Lucia a reliable foundation across 11 rounds of classical chess in Samarkand.
Saint Lucia’s participation is made possible by support from the Saint Lucia National Lotteries Authority (NLA), Computer and Business Services Ltd (CBS), Saint Lucia Electricity Services (LUCELEC) and Bank of Saint Lucia Ltd (BOSL).
