The Daleen Wiid and FM Karim Wageih pose
with trainer IM Frhat Ali and FIDE Vice President Lewis Ncube.

The 2007 African Junior Chess Championships were held from December 28, 2007 to January 6, 2008 at the Kamuzu Academy in Kasungu Ditsrict of Malawi about 150 kilometres from the Capital City of Lilongwe.

The choice of the Kamuzu Academy as a last minute replacement for the original venue of Lilongwe Hotel turned out to be a masterstroke by the President of Malawi Chess Association, Kezzie Msukwa.

The excellent playing and lodging conditions at the Academy provided the players and accompanying persons with the atmosphere for a memorable tournament.

The players rose to the occasion by giving us one of the most competitive tournaments in both the Open and Girls Sections.

Eight countries sent representatives with 23 players entered for the Open Section (though only 21 eventually turned up) and 13 players entering the Girls Section.

Fifteen Year old Egyptian FIDE Master, Kareim Wageih won the tournament with a score of 7/9. He was closely followed by 20 year old Calvin Klaasen of South Africa on 6.5/9.From four players on 5.5/9, Ryan Van Rensburg of South Africa emerged third on tie-break from Rodwell Makoto of Zimbabwe, Lithukela Zitha and WIM Melissa Greef both of South Africa.

South Africa’s Lithukela Zitha battles Egypt’s FM Kareim Wageih
in a Round 8 match (Wageih won).

Going into the final round of the Open Section both FM Kareim Wageih and Calvin Klaasen still had a chance to be crowned African Continental Junior Champion for 2007 as they were separated by only half a point. On Board 1 Angola’s Erikson Soares defeated Wageih in a game that ended earlier than the other crucial encounter on Board 2. This set up a tense finale on Board 2 where Klaasen needed to win against Rodwell Makoto of Zimbabwe to get be declared the outright winner. A draw would have set up a tie break encounter to decide the Championship.

In true competitive spirit Makoto played a memorable game to defeat Klaasen and leave Wageih as champion despite the last round defeat.

In the Girls Section Daleen Wiid of South Africa emerged the winner on 8/9. She was closely followed by Carmen De Jager also of South Africa of 7.5/9 and Valquiria Rocha of Angola on 7/9.

The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Development and Sport, Mr. Alex Mseka, was the Guest of Honour at the Closing Ceremony.

In his address to the players, officials and invited guests he congratulated the winners and urged the other players to continue striving to improve so as to maintain the competitive spirit of chess. Mr. Mseka also pledged government support for the programmes of the Malawi Chess Association.

http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1569

Egyptian top seed Kareim Wagein and South African Wiid Darleen on Sunday won this year’s Africa junior chess champions in boys and girls respectively during the week-long event that was staged at the elite Kamuzu Academy.

Wagein, who accumulated 7.5 points, and Darleen were rewarded with international master title status.South African Calvin Klaasen finished as Wagein’s runner-up with 6.5 points while his compatriot Ryan Van Rensburg came third with 5.5 points.

In the girls category, Carmen De Jarger emerged second while Rocha Valquiria was third. However, the three Malawian flag carriers failed to make it into the top three positions in the open category which saw South African girl Melisa Greef taking part in the boys group.

Despite failing to make it into top three, the country’s ambassadors showed they had made strides in the competition as they occupied better positions unlike in the previous competitions where they had ended at the bottom. Chuma Mwale finished eighth with five points, national junior champion Chiletso Chipanga came 11th, national champion Joseph Mwale came 14th in the event that had 23 participants.
It was not pleasant news for Malawi in girls’ category, which showed the country had work cut out for it to be on the same level with other countries.

Junior ladies champion Ellyn Mpinganjira was 9th with Linda Jambo finishing 11th in the event which attracted 13 girls.

Chess Association of Malawi vice-president Mark Chikoko said the event was a success and it revealed that the country was moving towards the right direction in the development of the sport.

Chikoko noted that previously Malawians used to be table anchors but in this years championship the countries representatives squeezed themselves to better positions.

“This championship has proved that Malawi has made tremendous progress. Hopefully we will continue to improve so that our players should also win the championship,” he said.

Chessam publicity secretary Gilton Mkumbwa, while admitting that the championship was tough for Malawi, nevertheless, paid tribute to the players for putting up gallant fight against their well exposed counterparts.

“Our players really fought very well,” he said. “They were never intimidated by their foreign counterparts who boast of international exposure.

“One of the South African female players [Melisa Greef] is an international master title holder and opted to participate in the open group which was dominated by boys because she wanted to face tough opposition.

“We congratulate our players for showing signs of progress. They need to participate in more championships to develop their skills rapidly,” he said.
World Chess Federation (FIDE) vice-president Lewis Ncube graced the occasion.

Source: http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=7898

yours in chess

simbarashe murimi,zimbabwe