Saint Lucia Female team shines at 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest

­­­­­­­­Saint Lucia’s female team shined at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, earning prestigious titles, leading the sports sector of the nation towards greater heights.

Chelsea Wahid and Tris-Ann Richards has earned the first-ever Woman Candidate Master (WCM) and Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title for Saint Lucia scoring an impressive 6/11 and 7.5/9.

The Saint Lucia Chess Federation acknowledged the women’s team in the Chess Olympiad and stated that their performance is a testament to their unwavering skills, dedication, and determination on the international platform.

They noted that their success on a global stage is a huge milestone, not just for them but for each female chess players who aspires to represent their nation on an international platform.

Also, it was the first time that Saint Lucia Female team participated in the Chess Olympiad. The players who represented the island nation in Budapest includes, Tris-Ann Richards, Vernesa James, Chelsea Wahid, Shekinah Leonce, Mila Liu in the Female team and Sixtus Gabriel, Cyrus Daniel, Nathaniel Mathurin, Justin James, Kaieem Elizee in the Male team.

Moreover, Kaieem Elizee from the Men’s team was also entitled with the prestigious FIDE Master at the Chess Olympiad. He is one out of only 23 /188 countries to earning the title with an exceptional score of 6.5/11.

Notably, Candidate Master and Fide Master are one of the four major official titles given to the Chess players by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). FM is the third highest title in the game of Chess which is ranked behind International Master and Grandmaster, and above Candidate Master (CM).

As per the details, a rating system is used by International Chess Federation with a vision to determine the strength of a player which is judged by his/her performance against other players. The minimum ratings which are required to carry the titles of Grandmaster, International Master and FIDE Master includes, 2500, 2400 and 2300 respectively.

On the other hand, the minimum rating to carry the title of Candidate Master is 2200. And, if any player holds the ranking below 1001, then they would be considered unrated.