2007 African Championships (Winhoek, Namibia)

Here is an excerpt from a press release from the Namibian Chess Federation website:

The African Individual Chess Championships 2007 will be held in Windhoek at the Safari Court Hotel, Kuiseb 1 & 4 rooms this coming weekend. The event starts with an opening ceremony and a cocktail function afterwards.

The field includes 3 Grandmasters, 17 International Masters, 4 FIDE Masters, 1 Candidate Master 17 FIDE rated players and 5 unrated players in the open section. 1 Woman Grandmaster, 6 Woman International Masters, 1 Woman FIDE Master, 1 FIDE rated player and 12 unrated players.In the Open section we have the favorites GM Ahmed Adly and GM Amin Bassem from Egypt who recently won the UAE Championships, IM Amon Simutowe from Zambia who just won the Max Euwe Stimulans in Arnhem (the Netherlands) where he scored his 3rd GM norm with a 2687 rating performance, IM Kenneth Solomon National Chess Champion of South Africa and IM Watu Kobese from South Africa.

In the Women’s section we have WGM Sabure Tuduetso from Botswana, the African Woman’s Champion, WIM Melissa Greef and WIM Anzel Laubscher from South Africa, WIM Sohair Basta and WIM Mona Khaled from Egypt, WIM Amina Mezioud from Algeria.

Press Release and coverage here

205 Comments

  1. Nothing but what you see in the press release.

    I am contacting the organizers and hope to get results including the list of participants. Getting games and photos will be a luxury.

    Update: Simutowe told me that he won his first game. I haven’t asked him about his reception, but he told me all the attention he got upon arrival was overwhelming. I have sent the Namibian Federation President (Max Nitzborn) a message. Hopefully I’ll get some details. It would be a shame (and inexcusable) if there is no coverage.

  2. Otto Nakapunda of Namibia has informed me that defending champion GM Ahmed Adly lost yesterday to Deon Solomons of South Africa! He stated the Namibian organizers are busy creating another website for the championships.

  3. OK Tshepiso. Jackie Ngubeni already had a prediction list on his site, but I’ll say

    Men
    1. GM-elect Amon Simutowe (ZAM)
    2. IM Essam El-Gindy (EGY)
    3. GM Bassem Amin (EGY)
    4. IM Kenny Solomon (RSA)
    5. GM Ahmed Adly (EGY)
    6. IM Robert Gwaze (ZIM)

    I’m being ambitious in picking Simutowe as #1. He has been traveling a great deal and most of his games in the Euwe tournament were all very competitive and long. He has also been swamped with congratulatory praise and I would imagine, it could require lots of energy. I believe Oladapo Adu will be somewhere in the top ten and Stanley Chumfwa may also make it. Chumfwa actually has a good chance to be in the top six. He has made it before and I believe he is motivated because of his friend’s accomplishment.

    I do not have the field of the Women’s players. I have only the names above. I believe the Algerian women are traditionally strong in these events. South Africa should present a challenge and maybe Botswana… but only if Tshepiso is also playing. 🙂

    Could somebody please feed me the women’s results??


    Looking at the results the first round produced several upsets.

    GM Ahmed Adly (Egypt) loses to Deon Solomons (South Africa)
    IM Walaa Sarwat (Egypt) loses to Steven Male Kawuma (Uganda)
    IM Ali Frhat (Egypt) loses to Eduardo Pascoal (Angola)
    FM Farai Mandizha loses to Kolade Onabogun (Nigeria)
    IM Oladapo Adu (Nigeria) draws with Richmond Phiri (Zambia)

    Standings

  4. LADIES’S RESULTS.
    1 7 WIM Solomons Anzel 0 1 – 0 0 WIM Basta-Sohair F 1
    2 2 WGM Sabure Tuduetso 0 ½ – ½ 0 Alaa El Din Yosra 8
    3 9 Ezat Roos 0 0 – 1 0 WIM Greef Melissa 3
    4 4 WIM Mona Khaled 0 1 – 0 0 Mbalenhie Cindi 10
    5 11 Omaragbon Doris 0 1 – 0 0 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso 5
    6 6 Amadasun Rosemary 0 ½ – ½ 0 Swartz Celeste 12
    7 13 Swartz Stephne 0 1 – 0 0 Vilhete Vania Fausta 16
    8 15 Msisua Ryoce 0 0 – 1 0 Iambo Linda 14
    :?:WHO IS THE NEXT QUEEN

  5. That is interesting. In the press release They did not mention Boikhusto and Algeria’s WIM Amina Mezioud does not appear to be playing.

    I suppose, we can go with … Egypt’s Sohair Basta, Botswana’s Tuduetso Sabure (the reigning champion) or with Nigeria’s Rosemary Amadasun. Egypt brought young star Mona Khaled and South Africa brought members from the silver medal team in the All-Africa games. All of these players competed against each other last month. Here are my picks:

    Women
    1. WIM Sohair Basta (Egypt)
    2. Rosemary Amadasun (Nigeria)
    3. WGM Tuduetso Sabure (Botswana)
    4. WIM Mona Khaled (Egypt)
    5. WIM Melissa Greef (South Africa)
    6. WIM Anzel Solomons (South Africa)

    Men’s Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr7817.aspx?lan=1
    Women’s Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr7816.aspx?lan=1

  6. Shabazz I know why you chose Amon as your Champ elect. The guy has been in a devastating form but over confidence may ruin his chances.

  7. It’s a shame yet again that Zambian Women are not participating at this prestigious tournament as usual. 😥
    What I dont understand is the excuse that the Government and the federation will give this time around for not sending the girls to this tournament. I believe that this tournament would have been good exposure for the Zambian girls.This tournament is being held just behind Zambia and the question of travelling costs is not justified this time around.

    To all the participants……I wish you well and goodluck if it ever works..May the best ‘MAN’ win.

    See you next year cause I hope to be there.

    Tsepiso why aren’t you playing?

  8. Tshepiso I know that you the current Bots champ, I did you decide not to participate. You missed the chance to add the title to your belt. You should have taken advantage of your current form. Sabure is not at her best at the moment.

  9. Stanley Chumfwa and Bassem Amin drew as did Essam El-Gindy and Kenny Solomon (without the “s”). Ahmed Adly lost again… this time to Ben Magana of Kenya! Well… he’s pretty much out of the running to win the tournament, but maybe he will try to string together wins to make the top six. Not sure what is wrong, but he may have taken ill… or maybe Africa is getting stronger! Amon Simutowe won again by beating Steven Kawuma. Kolada Onabogum of Nigeria beat Sayad Barakat Hassan for his second upset victory. No other upsets.

    Women
    Bo. No. Name Pts. Result Pts. Name No.
    1 3 WIM Greef Melissa 1 ½ – ½ 1 Omaragbon Doris 11
    2 13 Swartz Stephne 1 0 – 1 1 WIM Mona Khaled 4
    3 14 Iambo Linda 1 0 – 1 1 WIM Solomons Anzel 7
    4 12 Swartz Celeste ½ 0 – 1 ½ WGM Sabure Tuduetso 2
    5 8 Alaa El Din Yosra ½ ½ – ½ ½ Amadasun Rosemary 6
    6 1 WIM Basta-Sohair F 0 0 – 1 0 Mbalenhie Cindi 10
    7 5 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso 0 1 – 0 0 Msisua Ryoce 15
    8 16 Vilhete Vania Fausta 0 0 – 1 0 Ezet Roos 9

    Mona Khaled of Egypt breaks out in front with Anzel Solomons on 2-0. There is a three-way tie for 2nd with Melissa Greef, Doris Omaragbon and Tuduetso Sabure on 1½-½.

    Men’s Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr7817.aspx?lan=1
    Women’s Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr7816.aspx?lan=1

  10. I doubt if Amon is OVER-confident, but why should he not be confident in this field? One thing is certain… I never thought Adly would be on 0-2. However, I got the impression he was not in top form so I picked him 5th.

  11. Adly seems to be out of form. I will also pick Amon as my champ elect considering his recent games at Euwe and US open, the Carribean tourney was a warm up ground. The good thing about Amon is, he does not stick to one line of play hence difficult to prepare for, watch his games there will be more than 5 openings that will be excecuted by him in these Tourney and that a good champ qualities. You prepare sicilian he plays caro cann. Such a difficult opponet.

    Please keep updating us
    Thanx

  12. The “Zambezi Shark” is unstoppable and i reckon he is gonna bag this ….lets go mwana lubuto.
    However, its sad to learn tha Gals didnt travel …its a shame and i share Linda’s grief. Once again i say we shall welcome Amon when he comes to Zed and we dont want any hypocrites showing their faces and pretending to be a supportive Govt

  13. I just sent an e-mail to Frederic Friedel of ChessBase and told him how Amon was already considered a national hero in Zambia before getting his 3rd norm. I wish I could be there in Zambia when he arrives. It will a very festive occasion. I can imagine the reception, parades, dinners and parties that follow. We love him here in the States and hope to have a reception for him!

    I would imagine that some of the unsupportive officials would be made to feel like hypocrites. It was amazing because Amon was very harsh in his criticism, but I would remind him that it was time for him to focus on chess. Someone on this blog mentioned that the Zambia government should give him a diplomatic passport. That would be an appropriate gesture since Amon wants to promote chess on the African continent and throughout the Diaspora.

  14. Diplomatic passport. NICE, VERY NICE. Can Buthali & lewis explore this possibilty….came on guys! this is the start. Get llyumz to this part of the world or something, protocol fails, embezzle the thing! 😆

  15. People are focusing on the Zambezi Shark but there there are 2 unpredictable guys like Robert Gwaze and Chumfwa, they may not take it but they will display brilliant performances. Watch out for some more upsets caused by these 2 chaps.

  16. Well,chumfwa is quiet unpredictable and he can cause major upsets, actually he is known for that down here. As for Gwaze, I wouldnt say much about him cause I havent heard much about his performance lately..(Hey Daaim spill the juice on the young man),but if we talk about going by past Glory,then Robert is a very strong force to reckon with.

    The debate is hot down here, with news paper editorials urging the government to give Amon his rightfully earned place as a diplomat of this sport and hence give him a diplomatic passport.This will surely be a great honour and with Amon’s achievement and going by past govt activities,I am 93% certain that they will give him this passport.

    It’s a pity that Amon’s brilliant performance and achievements have been overshadowed by the sudden death of Zambian football striker Chaswe Nsofwa. I hope that when this whole sad episode is done with,they will not forget to honour the ‘shark’ .

    As for all the Zambian players in Namibia, Amon, Chitumbo, Chumfwa ,Musatwe and Richmond I say GO GET ‘EM BOYS!
    Nows your chance to shine and Glow!As USUAL! for the MOTHERLAND! One more time Go!

  17. Hey guys, let me guess who will win this,,,,, , mmmmmmmmmm , imposible to guess, who would have thought both defending champs would be here by round three!!

    This just goes to show how much hidden talent there is in Africa.

  18. Hi can anyone help me .I am in the uk and trying to get hold of Robert Gwaze .I got chess software for him
    any one help?

  19. Boards run red!! 

    Men (top 10 boards)
    Bo. No. Name Pts. Result Pts. Name No.
    1 5 GM Belkhodja Slim 2 1 – 0 2 FM Abdel Razik Khaled 12
    2 17 IM Aderito Pedro 2 1 – 0 2 IM Ezat Mohamed 6
    3 7 IM Simutowe Amon 2 1 – 0 2 Onabogun Kolade 31
    4 43 Andrade Ivan 2 0 – 1 2 IM Gwaze Robert 8
    5 1 GM Amin Bassem 1½ 1 – 0 1½ Phiri Richmond 36
    6 39 Chambule Pedro Lucas 1½ 0 – 1 1½ IM El Gindy Essam 2
    7 15 IM Solomon Kenny 1½ ½ – ½ 1½ Chumfwa Stanley 16
    8 24 Oatlhotse Providence 1 1 – 0 1 IM Abdelnabbi Imed 4
    9 9 IM Sarwat Walaa 1 1 – 0 1 Magana Ben 25
    10 26 Van Den Heever Donovan 1 1 – 0 1 IM Frhat Ali 10

    There were only two draws out of 23 boards. Slim Belkhodja (Tunisia), Robert Gwaze (Zimbabwe), Amon Simutowe (Zambia) and Pedro Aderito (Angola) lead the field on 3-0. Following close behind are Essam El-Gindy (Egypt) and Bassem Amin (Egypt). Titled players taking it on the chin were: Imed Abdelnabbi and Frhat Ali (again).

    Having performed well at the 9th All-Africa Games, the Egyptians came into this tournament with reason to believe they would take several of the top positions for the FIDE qualification, but currently there are no Egyptians in the top five. They have given up many points to lower-ranked players. Perhaps the hidden talent has risen in Africa.

    Interesting matchups…
    Gwaze vs. Belkhodja
    Aderito vs. Simutowe (two old friends)

    Women
    Bo. No. Name Pts. Result Pts. Name No.
    1 4 WIM Mona Khaled 2 0 – 1 2 WIM Solomons Anzel 7
    2 2 WGM Sabure Tuduetso 1½ 0 – 1 1½ WIM Greef Melissa 3
    3 11 Omoragbon Doris 1½ ½ – ½ 1 Alaa El Din Yosra 8
    4 10 Mbalenhie Cindi 1 0 – 1 1 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso 5
    5 6 Amadasun Rosemary 1 1 – 0 1 Swartz Stephne 13
    6 9 Ezet Roos 1 1 – 0 1 Jambo Linda 14
    7 1 WIM Basta-Sohair F 0 1 – 0 ½ Swartz Celeste 12
    8 15 Msiska Royce 0 0 – 1 0 Vilhete Vania Fausta 16

    South Africa’s Anzel Solomon maintains the only perfect score after beating defending African women’s Jr. Champ, Egypt’s Mona Khaled. Her compatriot Melissa Greef beat defending African women’s champion, Tuduetso Sabure (Botswana). Number one seed Basta-Sohair of Egypt got her first win.

    Namibia’s Chess Federation President Max Nitzborn sent me the same links for coverage, but thus far no photos, games or news reports.

    For all results, visit https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2007/NB_AfricanCh2.html

  20. Robert Gwaze and Amon are both technical and incisive, the only difference is that one has had more exposurer than the other. Robert posses immense hidden talent, recall how he took the world by surprise at (Bled) Slovenia. The few tournaments that he went to always leaves a lasting impression. I see him making it into top 6. Thats one talented player disadvantaged by geographic position.
    Its tough to predict the winner right now but I can sense the shift of powers from Upper Hemisphere to Southern Africa.

  21. I ‘ve got a feeling that this is gonna be Robert Gwaze’s tournament. Remember what he did in Bled. Gwaze is gonna win it with a near perfect score. The lad is very strong. He is certainly the strongest player in that field. Dont be misled by the rating 2413. It just reflects that unlike most of the top players in the field, he hasnt played in many rated tournaments. His actual rating should be around 2600.

  22. I couldn’t agree with you more Gata, most African chess players do not deserve their rating, finace is the major draw back in this continent you know.

  23. LEONARD,
    Watu is busy working on a book. Learning material for beginners. He intends to write for intermediate and advanced as well. Publishers gave him a short notice to have finished the draft. He is doing good. Let’s support the brother by buying the books once out.

  24. Exposure is all that is needed in this country to show how talented we are. Now the so called stong players of this continent will loose a lot of rating points because they are playing the so called week opponents because they have been labeled week by the international rating when infact we know that these guys are just as strong. African Chess will remain unpredictable in many more years to come because of lack of exposure.

  25. Hi Mr Daaim Shabazz I have tried that email address he does not use it anymore . We are trying to help our home boy but seems its had to get to him.
    If you can help tell him to get in touch i just need an address to send the software like megabase and popular kasparov, shirov video lectures and lots more

    Thanks in advance

  26. I may be a complete patza Shever but I don’t think tournament days are supposed to be for practice, instead you should be analysing your games. Practise b4, analysis …. during. So let me send you my details and send those over. 😀 😀 😀

  27. I had an interesting discussion on another blog. The argument was the rating system and the issue was whether the Chinese men were over-rated. I claimed they were not and had proven themselves in a number of tournaments including the last Olympiad. Others stated that they were not tested and had only played weaker players. There were some statistics being presented that the top four players had not played many players over 2650. Recently the Chinese men beat a group of Russian men (all 2650+) in a match. Those naysayers suddenly got quiet and try to say they were not debating Chinese strength.

    My point is people will debate whether African players are strong or not, but it is really up to the federations to showcase the talent. Both China and India have begun to do that an with great results. African ratings may be deflated, but then how does one prove that they are not? This debate is also going on in the Caribbean. Africa and Caribbean cannot rely on the Olympiad (every two years) to play top competition. I also believe there must be more support and Simutowe’s feat will help make the case in Africa.

    However, I would think African federations should organize their own tournaments… attract strong players to the continent. Many have traveled to Africa, but there is no consistency. If Africans cannot travel abroad, then bring the competition to Africa!

  28. Big events will come after there is plenty of money in Africa.
    We need good organisers like the Europeans since they know what they are upto.
    The guys have mini exposure. African have talents the problem is development and leaders.

    African federations are not united believe me.

  29. While we are all ecstatic with the performances of Gwaze, Simutowe, (and for me) Onabogun, we should not forget that this is just the half-way mark. There are FIVE Egyptians within a point of the lead, and GM Adly can be a streaky young fellow, especially as he is playing the “Swiss Gambit” schedule now. At the end, there will be quite a few draws, and it could be anybody’s tourney to win. Let’s not break out the champagne yet!

  30. Another upset against the top seed by Gwaze. Is the battle of the titans that is about to come Amon vs Robert. Expect tactics, art of defence and attack and positional play. Talent will not be the matter, it will be about one will be unlucky not to have won. But should Gwaze win then expect fireworks throughout the tourney. he has a tendency to maintain perfect score.

  31. go go mr Gwaze show the how we do it in zimbabwe. special thanks to Mandizha as well i think you are pulling up as well. the swiss gambit can work. Gwaze will beat Simutowe i reckon, the least he can get is 1/2 a point. Hey mr Gwaze dont forget The spirit of Fischer is in you. Perfect score thats all we need ➡

  32. The Simutowe vs Gwaze will be a battle of titans and predicting who would win would be foolhardy. There tends to be a feeling of belonging when predicting winners but from a professional viewpoint, it will be a tough game.
    Both players are motivated (Amon by becoming latest GM and Gwaze by beating GM Belkodja and wanting to emulate Amon).
    I reckon though that Amon is tired have played about 50+ games in 60 days. That is energy-sapping but should he reboot his energies he is likely to take it. What with him playing white!
    Gwaze though is not a push-over and expecting him to just falter is downgrading a player of great qualities.
    It’s a wait and see game.
    May the better player on the day win

  33. I had a suggestion to create another one, but I can certainly consolidate them. Some may have already bookmarked this thread. I’ll move them over onto this one long thread.

  34. We are very good at raising money for beauty contests for our girl child and it appears we very much ready to spend for big brother Africa instead of organizing for chess tournaments like the one in Namibia. How are you going to convince us to keep away from bad vices when you keep on demolising us. Even when results are there to see. Give chess as an example, by pumping more money and sending more players to Namibia in the sport which is doing fine. Am sorry to say that how i will wish Amon was a Briton or American, you where going to see how our ZNBC or media was going to cover Amon. Iam one of the sleeping giants in chess who started chess in Chililabombwe and am proud that i had chance of playing chess with Amon and Chumfwa when they were playing for Zamsure. And am also glad that i represented Southern Province in a Nico Insuarance tournament in 2004 and met people like Linda Nangwale at Chrismar Hotel. It pains me to see how chess is neglected in Zambia. Too bad for you Linda. You guys make some stop overs in Livingstone. Let me have your e-mail addresses including the one for Chanda Nsakanya. Am wishing the guys at the tourney all the best.

  35. Bad day for the Zambezi Shark. He succumbs to the Monomotapa Warrior in Round five. Amon tells me fatigue is having a serious bearing on his game. He has played 50+ in two months which is too much.
    Gwaze has 5 points and Amon 3.5. A bit tricky now but the Zimbabwean has all under his armpits. It’s all his to lose. But there will be tricky matchups in the next four rounds and it would be folly of anyone to declare a winner now.
    Egyptians will surely have a good run in the last rounds and Aderito of Angola is also having a tournament to remember.
    It’s all systems go.

  36. Chapadongo
    Rust overcame fatigue factor, another upset against the most favoured. I dont see egyptians doing anything extraordinary. I dont yet declare Gwaze a winner but he is widening the gap. Egyptians have stambling blocks in the likes of Gwaze, Amon, Aderito and Onabogun. So tough luck Egyptians. Gwaze has a devastating tactics as one said he thrives in complications. Gwaze is a walking Fritz.

  37. What a good run Aderito Pedro has in this tournament! Its a pity somebody is just about to spoil his party. With the white piecies, the 6th point should be an easy one for “Fischer”.

  38. Hats off to the “Tapa Warrior” ..it shows that we got skills in Southern Africa. The Shark didnt survive the “Gwaz Spear” bt he lives to fight another day!
    Once again congrats to the guys across the Zambezi as i say go get them GwazMan ………..pamberi ne chimurenga !!!!!

    one luv

  39. In the highly-anticipated match. Robert Gwaze defeated Amon Simutowe in the matchup of two talented players. That puts Gwaze on 5-0 and brings back memories of his Olympiad run in Bled when he went 9-0 for a gold medal. The Egyptians continue to suffer casualties as Bassem Amin loses to Pedro Aderito of Angola. Aderito has played a stellar tournament so far, winning four games and drawing with Zambia’s Simutowe. He will face front-runner Gwaze in round six. He holds clear second with 4½-½. Slim Belkhodja (Tunisia), Mohammed Ezat (Egypt) and Sayed Barakat Hassan (Egypt) round out the top five. Simutowe’s loss to Gwaze puts him at 3½-1½.

    The upsets mean that the top-seeded players will be facing each other with a greater sense of urgency sense six spots to the FIDE Knockout hang in the balance. To make matters worse for the Egyptians four will play each other in round six.

    On the women’s side, Anzel Solomons continues to hold her lead but was nicked for a draw by Boikhutso Mudongo. Mona Khaled has closed the gap with a win over Roos Ezet and is only ½-point behind the lead. Strangely enough Solomons (4½-½) will be playing Yosra Alaa El-Din (2½-2½). This pairing anomaly means that Solomons has played all of the top players already and should have an advantage in rounds to follow. All-Africa Games gold medallist Rosemary Amadasun continues to languish after losing her second consecutive game. Tuduetso Sabure was held again and stands little hope of successfully defending her title. She has an even score.

    Men’s Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr7817.aspx?lan=1
    Women’s Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr7816.aspx?lan=1

  40. Abel,
    Not quite sir. There is no way rust can overcome fatigue. The argument, if any, that the boy has been playing every week from the US, T and T, Dutch and now African Individual. all these are energy-sapping events.
    You to replenish your energy before each but Amon has been competing expressely. So one can’t talk about rust, it must be fatigue ( may I bother you to check definition).
    Don’t rule out the Egyptians. I suspect they have a special package. I see them grabbing three of the six top positions. Other positions are reserved for Gwaze, Amon and Aderito. Period.
    MUBITAKOV,
    You used some Greek I could not undestand when you talked about pamberi ne chimurenga. Checked my English diction but failed.
    Simplify it for the sake of all of us. But I still get the point — You’re congratulating Gwaze for spearing the Zambezi Shark. Your comments not misplaced because beating Amon in whatever state he may be is not easy.
    Otherwise the Mono warrior has had a good run so far.

  41. Boards continue to run red in Namibia. Everyone of the participants in the 2007 African Championships has had to shed at least 1/2-point. That is… all except Robert Gwaze of Zimbabwe. Gwaze toppled Tunisian Grandmaster Slim Belkhodja as the the high-rated continue to have problems.

    Coupled with Amon Simutowe’s draw against Pedro Aderito, the tournament will feature the first marquee matchup of the tournament… Simutowe vs. Gwaze. Those following Africa had long debated which of these two would join the Grandmaster ranks and while Simutowe has meet the norm requirements, everyone can see that Gwaze has the talent to do the same. Both of the players are roughly the same age and starred in African Juniors winning three titles between them: 1998 (Gwaze), 1999 (Simutowe) and 2000 (Simutowe). Both have also won medals in the Olympiad: 2000 (Simutowe – silver), 2002 (Gwaze – gold).

    The balance of power has seemingly changed in Africa. Given developments of this tournament, all regions of Africa appear to have talent waiting to be developed. Nigeria’s Kolade Onabogum (1890 ELO, 2570 TPR) appears to be the newest star having beaten FM Farai Mandizha and IM Kenny Solomon and will be tested against Belkhodja in round five. Saharan players have taken a beating thus far, and new talent is emerging in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, Egypt will certainly make a strong run in the second half.

    In the women’s tournament, Anzel Solomons of South Africa continues her march by beating compatriot Melissa Greef. Boikhutso Mudongo beat Nigeria’s Rosemary Amadasun to jump into joint 2nd with Egypt’s Mona Khaled on 3-1. Tuduetso is off to a slow start at only 50%, but Botswana is trying to defend the title with Mudongo making a run.

    For all results, visit https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2007/NB_AfricanCh2.html

  42. Amongst peers who have played with him right when he burst into the chess scene, there has never been any doubt about Gwaze’s talent and potential. He has always been a solid GM prospect. I hope he will continue his winning streak!

  43. The tourney will unfold today. 2 of the best in Sub Saharan battling, its not only about winning at Namibia, its about who is best in Southern Africa, its about 2 Rhodesian states, its about the 2 states with Z. Its neighbourhood battle. Its about winning medals at Olympiads. These 2 have a lot in common. Amon stole it before at african Zonal, will history repeat or will it be a sweet revenge. Currently Amon seems a notch high as his exposure to various Tourney while Robert was busy sharpening his skills secrectly. Lets see what he has to uncover now. I know Shabazz will opt for Amon but dont rule out the unexpected.

  44. Abel,

    I’m really not favoring anyone in one-on-one matches although I gave pre-tournament predictions. It’s hard to make predictions each round without having access to up-to-date games and knowing what the playing conditions are like there. I would also need to be able to watch the players’ energy and drive. I have not seen any photos yet and only game from the first two rounds are available.

    The question here will be Simutowe’s fatigue factor vs. Gwaze’s rust. Gwaze has not played much in the past few years since leaving England. As Okey Iwu said on the other thread, we cannot rule out the Egyptians because we are only halfway home. Adly could conceivably win several in a row.

  45. To me Robert Gwaze’s win against GM Belkhodja Slim is not an upset. Coz i know he is much stronger than all the participants in this tournament, and he is gonna prove it! You may disagree with me now but i know after round 9 you will see the light. In today’s game Amon Simutowe may be lucky to escape with a draw since he is playing the white pieces. Though i have a feeling that Gwaze will still be able to manage the full point. Simutowe’s best chance is to avoid complications. Coz Gwaze thrive in them.

  46. I’m not so sure gata. Gwaze win over Belkhodja may not be an upset, but to say he is much stronger than all of the participants is stretching it a bit. Even if he wins this tournament, there is still much to do in terms of playing in competitive tournaments. Like many players of African descent, he needs exposure and invitations.

    I believe a major blunder was made by the Zimbabwe Chess Federation for not marketing him abroad after his 9-0 gold medal. He should have been on a tour of strong tournaments, but he spent most of his time in England and then Malaysia. I’m not sure of the details, but that appeared to be the best opportunity.

    Anyway… he is one of the most exciting Simutowe-Gwaze games I have seen. Simutowe won, but both African gladiators will battle today to the glorious end. Everyone I know is looking forward to this marquee match.

    Here’s a flashback:

    https://www.thechessdrum.net/palview/Simutowe-Gwaze.htm

  47. Shabazz,
    You are very right, Egyptians may emerge the winners in the last round cause they are just 1/2 a point behind. So far they are not on the lime light but will be last round. People are anxious about the 2 lads.
    Thankls for the java games on the drum.

  48. Wow!! It took them awhile to update the result but when they did it confirmed what some have been saying here all along that Gwaze Robert is definitely a GM in the waiting. He was able to defeat Simutowe to retain his leading position. It will be interesting to see how he performs against the Egyptian GMs. This is turning out to be great. Also. GM Adly Ahmeed who got pounced in the first two rounds seems to be waking up too. The fight in this tournament is not over by any means.

  49. Chapadongo
    You and me are talking one line, Gwaze is presumed to be rusty as he has not been currently active. . As for Amon is fatigue that has taken its toll. He has been exhaused from various tournaments across the globe. Conclusion is the rusty overcame the tired one.
    As for Egyptians they will be knocking each other out and Aderito, the warrior and the Shark will make sure it wont be an easy win for them. Should Gwaze win round 6 then it will be too late for Egyptians.

  50. I told you guys that we’ve got a lot of stars in Africa!!! 😛

    I think all the boost in our African players comes from IM Simutowe getting the final GM norm, especially IM Gwaze. I bet he was like, ” i can do it too”. ❗

    He probably wants to be officially crowened GM b4 Amon!! Do you guys see it happening????? 🙄

  51. Abel,
    Correct… I must have misunderstood you. Sorry about that. I initially thought you were attributing rust to Amon and not that you were contrasting rust (Gwaze) to fatigue (Amon). You gave it to rust, which is correct in that context.
    Egyptians will surely cancel each other out but four rounds is a long way.

  52. One lesson for all of you guys.
    : LOSS is LOSS and WIN is WIN. It ends there, especially in chess. No excusses please, i hate that. Be responsible for your doings. If you lost, search your mistakes and if you won keep it up!!

    Come on Guys!! Enough with that , it is just irritating,

  53. Chapadongo,

    I doubt very seriously that Gwaze can earn his GM title before Amon for the simple reason that Gwaze has only one GM norm (1998 African Junior). If he wins this tournament, I believe it will qualify as his second. Watu Kobese has one GM norm, but I cannot think of any other sub-Saharan player with a GM norm.

    However, I must say that it does not matter who earns their GM titles first. We simply need more Black Grandmasters around the world whether from Europe, U.S., Caribbean, Latin America and of course Africa! Gwaze will certainly need more tournaments to earn his norms.

  54. Chapadongo,
    Pamberi is forward and chimurenga = struggle …there you have.
    “Forward with the struggle” …i read it from a Zimbabwean novel about FREDOM. Am from Zambia but i will Always remember that freedom slogan…PAMBERI!!!!

    One luv

  55. Oti,
    It’s a fact that a loss is a loss and a win is a win but let people dissect their games. That cannot be mistaken for excusses. Analyses can never be execuses. Ofcourse when you lose, you must understand what has caused it unless it was just a battery.

  56. MUBITAKOV,
    There you are, pamberi is forward and chimurenga is freedom. I guess that’s Shona. You coined right my man. PAMBERI CHIMURENGA!!!!

  57. It is difficult to keep current as the games have been posted late. It would be good to see the Gwaze-Simutowe game so we can study it. Is there anyone in Namibia that can send it?

  58. Where is Watu? iam really rooting for Amon`s recovery. i agree with kelly`s sentiments. if our chess players were footballers,they would have been given diplomatic passports. Amon has done us proud.If we had just a tenth of whats spent on football Cephas Sichilima,Lahende Ndhlovu,Nase Lungu(playing pool now?),stanley chumfwa and the others would have been masters of reckon. One sees their frustrations.Talent has never been a question. Hey whats happening Stanley? Watch out for Adly pipo. Daaim,will Hamadouchi ever grace the African championships? U r doing a great job my man!Like you say…keep the drum beating!!!

  59. Chapadongo,

    I don’t believe Gwaze played enough Grandmasters. There was also the same issue with Simutowe’s silver in 2000. Lewis Ncube told me, “We initially thought it was but were later told by FIDE that it wasn’t. Upon checking the records we found that he didn’t play the required number of GMs.” Ncube was Zambia’s Federation President at the time. When I did a report on Gwaze’s performance at the 2002 Olympiad, I featured seven out his nine games… none were against Grandmasters and that may be the problem.

    https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2002/NB_Gwaze2.html

    In order to get a GM norm, you have to win clear first in either a continental championship, a continental junior, an age group championship, or fulfill the requirements in “Requirements for the titles” in the FIDE handbook. That requires getting the amount of points for the proper rating category, playing three Grandmasters and having at least three other federations represented. So while both Gwaze and Simutowe had great results, neither got a norm for their Olympiad performances.

    Incidentally, you get the GM title straightaway when you win the World Junior or World Championship, but in most cases winners of these tournaments are already Grandmasters.

  60. Kasese,

    Someone said in an above post that Watu is working on a book.

    Hamdouchi may have already qualified in the Arab Championships. I am not sure. He has played in previous African Championships, but prefers to take advantage of his unique position of qualifying outside of Africa. There was a controversy in 2005 African Championships when they took a slot from Africa because Hamdouchi had qualified elsewhere. They argued that since Hamdouchi is under an African federation, then that counts as one of the six spots. Africa gave spots to the top five players in the African Championships. It was quite controversial. Read report below:

    https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2005/NB_AfricanCh5.html

    There was also a strange occurrence when Ignatious Njobvu did not earn the FM title after getting 50% in the tournament. I’m not certain why he did not qualify.

  61. Hi there everyone involved in this good and interesting game of chess!! I was supposed to check on you guyz in Windhoek with Tshepiso and Miti tomorrow. Unfortunately I have to take care of some serious staff at work. Shiver Mapiri, Robert Gwaze, Chumfwa, Anzel(Though you had your wedding without inviting me), young man Richmond Phiri, Chitumbo, the list is endless! Not forgeting GM elect and his elder brother Musatwe. IM Kuza and bra Jackie!! Longtime no seen guyz BUT whats there not to understand. For the players “PUT MORE WOOD!!” and keep that fire burning. I want to see atleast 3 SADC guyz qualified at the end of the tourney.
    And you Shabazz keep on the good work.

  62. GM Kabi, its a pity you can’t go to Nam. i am following the games closely from Colchester, UK. i put all my money on Gwaze. i kno w it’s too early to predict but i know i have seen the guy’s games.he is just to hot. another Bled’s perfomance.

  63. Daaim may I take this opportunity to thank you for providing this wonderful forum. Without a doubt, the lively communication, exchange and transmission of information is a very positive resource to the chess fraternity. Keep up the good work!

  64. Thanks Simba! 🙂

    African people and those of African descent are rising! However, we need to enlist the participation of the entire Diaspora. I have noticed little participation amongst U.S. and Caribbean brothers on this blog.

    By the way, I have gone through the games and I have noted the following:

    Round 1: Adly-Solomons, 0-1 (Nice combo at the end with 32…Bh3!)
    Round 2: Onabogum-Hassan, 1-0 (Good technique and king march)
    Round 3: Aderito-Ezat, 1-0 (Pedro crushed him on the light squares)
    Round 4: Gwaze-Belkohodja, 1-0 (Powerful performance!)

    Note: If anyone on this blog has any game you think is noteworthy, tell us about it! Any unique attack, interesting ending, strategy, strange position, name the game! We can all learn something.

  65. Otty,
    Thats a fact Win is a win and loss is a loss, no one can change that. Whats actually irritates you??? Im astonished to learn that you get irritated when people discuss some games. Do you see anything wrong when people predict, say their views about certain games or players? Actually that the purpose of these blog. Discuss, analyse and predict. What excuses are you actually referring to Otty.

  66. It’s turning out to be a bad outing for Zambians – Amon lost again, his brother Musatwe succumbed to compatriot Richmond Phiri and Chumfwa lost!
    Chitumbo also lost. Not so pleasant. Hey guys rise! But many thanks to SADC guys Gwaze who drew with Aderito to continue leading on 5.5 points.
    Looks like Gwaze will have a flawless tournament. Best wishes young man.
    Egyptian GMs are awakening like I feared. They may just pose a challenge for Gwaze.
    Let’s wait and see.

  67. Chapadongo,
    Zambians are having a rough time at the moment but Amon lost 2 games like Adly so he should not let Adly overtake him. Amon is still on the contest as long as he can lose no more games. I still sense that Amon will halt 1 Egyptians, Aderito another and Gwaze like wise. Aderito was highely undermined but it seems he is such a force to reckon. He will surely leave a lasting impression on these tourney. Gwaze’s should not settle for anything less than a draw for as to keep SADC representaive at the World Open. You seem scared of Egyptians but things are also not easy on them either.

  68. For a player to reach the level of GM he must achieve 3 GM norms and in addition he must achieve an elo of 2500. After meeting all these requirements he is called a GM. But what happens when his elo drops below 2500? Surely if a player does not perform at 2500 elo level he must be stripped of this title until he reach the required 2500 level again. There are many GMs with elos below 2500 and I think that this is a mistake. If a GM after 1 year of activity still do not reach the 2500 level then he must become a candidate GM again until he reach the 2500 mark and remain at that mark for a further year. There are even GMs with 2300 ratings. To me that is something that FIDE must seriously look at. Any comments?

  69. Hi kOLADE, we are all praying fo you to qualify, Nigeria chess shld be the strongest in Africa but because of lack of tournaments and sponsorship that is why we can not take that spot, Keep on playing very strong chess, we believe you can make it. I have been trying to view the lastest result online, but the link is not going thru.

    Williams Abiye
    Rwanda

  70. HI guys,
    I want to start by first of all thanking Diaam(hope i got the speeling right) for running this blog and site. Secondly before i go to the african individual championship,Iam a Ugandan chess player who believes that finance is the stumbling block in sub saharan africa. i qualified for the Olympiad in turin but govt failed to raise enuff tickets and so i happenend to miss out.Theres no doubt that given a chance we can become Gms and IMs.I know this for a fact coz i play on the chess base server,i have managed to beat a couple of Ims and one GM. anyways in this tourny Iam rooting for Gwaze coz from the little I have seen i think he can become a 2600. i hope to annotate a game of his if thats possible with you Mr Diaam.i just hope Simutowe makes it into the top 6 coz he seems fatigued. and of course i support my country mate Stephen Kawuma who made it to Namibia with his own funds which i think is a shame on African governments

  71. Abel,
    Your observations are tempting to accept that Egyptians would not have it easy. Ofcourse, they have had a bad tourney but hey, they will surprise many in their endgame, if you like.
    Amon is tired and letting him face an Egyptian would not be the best. Yes, he has the mental capacity to stop the Arabs but his flesh cannot allow him to go on winning.
    But don’t rule him out, the boy is dangerous and may just pull out something special. Watch that in the last three rounds.

  72. Dear Leonard,
    Consider this for thought, Once a GENIUS always a GENIUS…with exception of C Darwin of course!. Doctorate holders and Professors do not do thesis for ever! All we are asking you to do in a tournament of 9 rounds, beat 2 GMs AND score 66.66% ,just that!. Repeat this three times and will call you GM for as long as you live…Yes! AND in view of the fact that the 2 X 3 =6 Gms might be 2300s we want you to achieve a “simple” 2500 rating! Can you do that leornard?

  73. All,

    You all are several hours ahead so I am waking to the news of Amon Simutowe’s second loss to an unheralded player, Henry Steel. For those of you who may not understand the issue of Amon’s fatigue factor mentioned by several bloggers, let me explain. Amon has played in the following tournaments in the last two months.

    World Open, – 9 rounds – July 1st-5th (Philadelphia, USA)
    New Jersey Futurity – 9 rounds – July 7th-11th (New Jersey, USA)
    U.S. Open – 9 rounds – July 28th-August 5th (New Jersey, USA)
    Caribbean Open – 8 rounds – August 8th-11th (Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies)
    Euwe Stimulans – 9 rounds – August 16th-26th (the Netherlands, Europe)
    African Championships – 9 rounds – August 31st-September 11th (Namibia, Africa)

    This is a grueling schedule by anyone’s standards and it shows Amon’s determination to get the norm. Perhaps fatigue is a factor here. In addition, Amon had to expend a lot of energy after getting the norm. He expressed to me that there were so many people that congratulated him (via e-mail, phone and in Namibia) and that he was looking forward to resting. Let’s hope he musters enough energy to close out the tournament on a high note.

  74. Chapadongo,
    The Egyptians from history are fearsome, yes they can run riots given the chance but these Tourney is somehow different. I strongly believe there is shift of power from the North to South. Have you realised that the Tunisian Gm Belkohodja will also help to slow the Egyptians. Aderito is a silent predator. The Shark will fight for top 6 at the expense of one Egyptian. One chap whom I expected a lot from is Chumfwa but at the moment he seems to be struggling and he is one chap who like to defeat big guns like Arabs as you say. He will hammer one just wait and see.

  75. Shabazz
    So far the most powerful perfomance was by Gwaze against Amon, just check it and see some pawn sacrifices and queen sacrifice, combinations. Thats was sheer brilliance by Robert. He dictated terms to the Shark. Thats a game worth noting, it stood to its expectations. I think you should include it in Drums historic games and game of the week so far.

  76. An interesting position occurred in Simutowe-Gwaze.

    In this position, Simutowe has played 33.e5!? and probably saw that 33…Qxe5 34.Nc4 Qf6 35.Rxb2 (35.Nxb2 a3!) 35…Qxc6 36.Ne3 Qf6 would lead to a unclear position… black having compensation for the exchange. However, Gwaze played 33…Bxc2!? Given the circumstances, Gwaze may have decided to complicate matters. So Gwaze sacrifices his queen after 34.exf6 Rxd2

     

         

    White may be better here but black certainly has some initiative with the rooks doubled on the seventh and the past a-pawn which must always be watched. In addition, the two bishops can help the pawn move up the board… but something else happens!

    35.Qe1 Bg6 and now 36.Qe8?!

     

         

    Now 36.Bxa4! would have given white a chance to eliminate a dangerous pawn, but black would still have some chances given white’s weakened kingside. On 36…Re2 37.Qf1 gxf6 38.Bc6 the position is still unbalanced. So…

    36…gxf6 37.Bxa4 too late! 37…Rxf2 and now black has the initiative. If black can free his dark-squared bishop, he’ll be winning. Simutowe’s is determined not to allow this and played 38.Rc8??

     

     
       

    Now looking at the position, it doesn’t take long to see that Simutowe’s last move is a blunder. He may have been in some serious time pressure here. So after 38…Rg2+ 39.Kh1 Rxh2+ 40.Kg1 Rbg2+

     

        
     

    Simutowe resigned in lieu of 41.Kf1 Bd3+

    Without knowing the details of what the conditions (time factor), it is hard to understand what happened leading up to the critical position. Gwaze took the most aggressive approach and great risks, but this is the trademark of his play. Simutowe was probably under time pressure and was not able to defend properly. This had to be a devastating loss. See Game!

  77. Ndawana,
    Thats good explanation Mosenya, so how many Gm’s have you beaten so far in a round of 9. I know you are a Gm in the making is only that you have not yet reached the first Gm norm. Kabi is a Gm who has not yet beaten 3 Gm’s and never went through the norm issues. Thats weird Gm Kabi.

  78. A GM is A GM guys. consider professors in 1980 doing computer science. bring him 2000 and you will find he/she understands next to zero i guess but that should not strip his proffersorship. tek the likes of Jan tinman, korchnoi, karpov … these were super greats and now because they can loose terribly to playes like nakamura, calsen o radjabov simply does not mean they should be stripped titles. Be a GM and stop playing chess. we will remember you as a GM

  79. On this subject of GMs… two GMs in American chess are lowly-rated… American legend, Arthur Bisguier and former Russian emigre, Anatoly Lein. They are well into their 70s, but as you may know, they were top players in their day. I believe in addition to one’s play, we also have to look at contributions to chess. Even though age may have relegated GMs to a mere master, they have helped to pave the way for players like Carlsen, Nakamura, Radjabov and Negi. I think Bisguier is about 2200 ELO, but at one time was well over 2500.

    In terms of professorship (and me being one), much of the foundation of computers of 1980 still apply to today… data structures, computer architecture, I/O systems, etc. I remember studying data structures as a computer science student and the foundation of hardware has not changed much… of course software has changed dramatically. Certainly if that person studying computer science in 1980 went off in seclusion for 20 years, they would not understand if the were suddenly thrown back into civilization. However, those persons studying computer science even in the 1950s would have little problem understanding if they remained engaged in the field.

    In chess, we still draw from the knowledge of Lasker, Alekhine, Morphy, Capablanca, Fischer. One could argue that these players (at their peak) could not compete today (Fischer could), but they are still Grandmasters and have made tremendous contributions to the game.

  80. hoo hoo hoo! It’s hot in namibia! with 3.5 points after rd 6 one can still get to position 5 with 6.5. oooh Lord Jesus I know you love them all as you do the game, please be on their side and make them win each other against. and lets all pray and say ~ ? ??? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??? ? ? ? ? ? ? amen!!

  81. Abel,
    Am equally surprised by Chumfwa`s performance though chitumbo`s might as well rank as the most humbling considering his performance at the all Africa games. Amon can indeed make get a one of the six places. The game i would have loved to see is Adly-A Simutowe. Its a pity, were the two to meet,Amon`s physical state would still be a factor and i really hope they dont ! Amon`s case not withstanding,are there no rest days at the championships? Anderito Pedro! Anderito Pedro! Any data about this guy?

  82. WATA GWAAN MI FRENS !
    If u met your 6th grade teacher today , y’ll address him as sir or Teacher…thats bcoz of the respect he earned being your teacher.
    Your level of education may have surpassed his …….fact is, HE IS YOUR TEACHER.

    Cool runnings.

  83. Lots of buzz going around about the final stretch of the tournament. Who will emerge as the top six? Will Gwaze hold onto his lead? Will the Egyptians make a surge since many will have a shot at playing the leader? Will Simutowe rebound from two straight losses? Time will tell! 

    After seven rounds (in the women’s section) Anzel Solomons (South Africa) remains tied with a surging Mona Khaled (Egypt) and both are on 6-1. After the two leaders, a 2-point gap exists with Melissa Greef (South Africa), Basta-Sohair (Egypt), Yosra Alaa El-Din (Egypt), Rosemary Amadasun (Nigeria) and Cindi Mbalenhie (South Africa) standing on 4-2. All of these players represent federations who receives team medals in the All-Africa Games… Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria. Botswana’s titled players Tuduetso Sabure and Boikutso Mudongo have fallen off the pace and with two rounds left.

    For all results, visit https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2007/NB_AfricanCh2.html

  84. Leonard,

    You’re arguing a different issue about whether rating should matter in becoming a GM. We are talking about those that are already GMs (having fulfilled all of the requirements) and losing their skills as they get older, or less focused on chess. There is still something that GMs can tell you about chess mastery even though they cannot play at the highest of level. I have seen Grandmaster Anatoly Lein in U.S. tournaments he is a walking history book of knowledge.

    I was at the 2003 U.S. Championship covering Maurice Ashley and Stephen Muhammad and sat at the table with Anatoly Lein during the closing banquet. He had the table spellbound as he told stories of Mikhail Tal. As Mubitakov mentioned, you may be better than your coach or smarter than your teacher, but it is their wealth of knowledge and experience that helped you make use of that talent. In my opinion, a Grandmaster says more about a person’s performance at the height of their power than anything else. Saying that… in other sports and games, it is different. You can lose your title if you do not maintain the level. In this regard, chess differs from bridge and other such sports.

  85. jackie is killing chess in africa just leave zimbabweans alone and other young chess stars. if you want some, create some

  86. Kasese,
    Chumfwa did not perform to his potential as we know him. Maybe the tourney is tough as it looks like. Aderito is a silent assassian, a slow poison. He is not that known but he dictate terms on the board. He is such a strong player you know. I really didnt know him that much until to these tourney.

  87. Pedro Aderito has been around for a long time. He has played in many Olympiad tournaments for Angola and is one of the five or six IMs from that country. I interviewed him back in 2002 through an interpreter. They were one of the first African federations to be able to fill a team entirely made of IMs. Below is a shot of Angola in the 1996 Olympiad.

    The Angola Chess Federation has enjoyed perhaps the most success among Sub-Saharan African nations. The country has been wracked by an ongoing civil war, but that has not prevented the country from producing five International Masters. Pictured in above picture are: kneeling – IM Alexandre Nacsimento, IM Manuel Mateus; standing – IM Armindo Sousa, IM Pedro Aderito, IM Eugenio Campos, Ludy Sousa, captain.

    Here is the Angolan team at the 2002 Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia.

    in front, from left to right – Catarino Domingos (Bd. 1), Amorin Agnelio (Bd. 2), IM Armindo Sousa (Bd. 3) and IM Pedro Aderito (Bd. 4); (in the rear, from left to right) Ediberto Domingos (Bd. 5) and Abilio Ribeiro (Bd. 6), and Manuel Andrade (captain). Photo taken by Jerry Bibuld.

    He is also here on the right with Eugenio Campos at the 2004 Olympiad in Mallorca, Spain. Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

  88. I love the pairings on the top boards today! I guess we’ll see if the Egyptians can complete their comeback. Hopefully not 😉

  89. It appears as if the Egyptians are poised to make a final run at the top six positions in the last two rounds of the African Championships. Four Egyptian players are within striking distance including Ahmed Adly who lost his first two games. Robert Gwaze and Pedro Aderito continue to hold the lead on 6-1 and will play Bassem Amin and Essam El-Gindy respectively. Aderito has had a blistering 2604 performance thus far.

    Amon Simutowe was held by Angola’s Eduardo Pascoal and the GM-elect has fallen off form the past three rounds. He told me that fatigue has played some role in his play the last few rounds. Oladapo Adu will play Slim Belkhodja in round seven and hopes to end on a high note for Nigeria. His compatriot Kolade Onabogum started well with two upset victories, but has faltered.

    The South Africans have been the pleasant surprise, but not the South Africans we would expect. Kenny Solomon has had a rough go and Watu Kobese is back in South Africa watching the event. Donovan van den Heever and Henry Steel have done well and both may be looking at IM norms or titles.

    For all results, visit https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2007/NB_AfricanCh2.html

  90. Shabazz,
    Yes, Amon has won round 8 but it looks like it’s rather late for the GM-elect. He’s hoping for a miracle on a Sunday… Will it come?
    how are the standings like now?

  91. I argued the other day that Egyptians would spring up towards the end but some of you guys dismissed my observations.
    Check the standings as of round 8. There are four Egyotians in the top 6. My modest projection was that three would qualify for the World Cup but some quashed my calculations.
    What do you say now?

  92. Chapadongo,

    You were right. I had also argued as much and I picked Simutowe, three Egyptians (Bassem, El-Gindy and Adly), Gwaze and Kenny Solomon. Adly has apparently played the “Swiss Gambit” by losing his first two and winning six in a row! The Egyptians took a lot of casualties, but in such a field, they strung together a lot of wins.

    One key factor could be Adly’s weak primary tiebreaks (combined score of opponents). If he loses to Aderito and ends with 6-3, then others with six points may over take him. He has to get at least a draw to qualify. For any remote chances, Simutowe has to win… full stop. There would need to be a number of decisive games on the top four boards and a number of draws on the next four boards for him to have a chance.

    Let’s not forget, a GM norm is at stake. El-Gindy may not agree to a quick draw with Gwaze, who will qualify even if he loses. A draw would give Gwaze the title on tiebreaks and the GM norm.

    Here are the top six after eight rounds (in order of tiebreaks):

    Standings

    Rk.  Name FED Rtg Club/City Pts.  TB1   TB2   TB3 
    1 IM Gwaze Robert ZIM 2413  6,5 31,5 33,0 0,0
    2 IM Aderito Pedro ANG 2305  6,0 31,5 31,0 0,0
    3 IM El Gindy Essam EGY 2507  6,0 27,5 26,0 0,0
    4 GM Adly Ahmed EGY 2488  6,0 23,5 21,0 0,0
    5 IM Ezat Mohamed EGY 2438  5,5 31,0 28,0 0,0
    6 GM Amin Bassem EGY 2535  5,5 29,0 25,5 0,0

    Pairings

    Bo. Name Pts. Result Pts.  Name
    1 IM El Gindy Essam  6  6½ IM Gwaze Robert 
    2 IM Aderito Pedro  6  6 GM Adly Ahmed 
    3 GM Amin Bassem  5½  5½  Van Den Heever Donovan 
    4 IM Simutowe Amon  5  5½ IM Ezat Mohamed 
    5 GM Belkhodja Slim  5  5 FM Mandiza Farai 

    Mona Khaled has pulled into sole possession of 1st place with her 5th win in a row and 7/8. She has only lost to Anzel Solomons who is 2nd on 6½/8. With a draw in round nine, she will secure a tie for 1st, but her tiebreaks will not favor her if Solomons wins. Solomons has clinched 2nd, but will probably go for the win against the weaker Stephne Swartz of Namibia.

    Standings 

    Rk.  Name FED Rtg Club/City Pts.  TB1   TB2   TB3 
    1 WIM Mona Khaled EGY 1981  7,0 25,5 30,0 29,00
    2 WIM Solomons Anzel RSA 1865  6,5 27,5 32,0 29,00
    3  Alaa El Din Yosra EGY 0000  5,0 25,5 19,5 21,75
    4 WIM Basta-Sohair F EGY 2075  5,0 24,5 18,0 18,00
    5 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso BOT 1941  4,5 27,5 21,0 15,25
    6  Omoragbon Doris NGR 0000  4,5 25,5 20,5 13,00

    Pairings

    Bo. Name Pts. Result Pts.  Name 
    1 WIM Mona Khaled  7  5 WIM Basta-Sohair F 
    2 Swartz Stephne  4  6½ WIM Solomons Anzel 
    3 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso  4½  5  Alaa El Din Yosra 
    4 Mbalenhie Cindi  4½  4½  Omoragbon Doris 
    5 Vilhete Vania Fausta  3  4 WGM Sabure Tuduetso 
    6 WIM Greef Melissa  4  2½  Swartz Celeste 
    7 Jambo Linda  1½  4  Amadasun Rosemary 
    8 Ezet Roos  3½  ½  Msiska Royce 

    Results: https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2007/NB_AfricanCh2.html

  93. Daa’im,
    am from SHARKLAND, the same town as your young man, back then we used to call him Pon, Dwarf or Ka Amon bcoz he was small.
    look at him now, he is Hon. Amon Simutowe and we are not damn proud but rather ‘Daaim proud’!!
    Doc keep on doing the good work and say hi to little Cydni.

    Cool runnings

  94. Updates please……. I’m anxious you know, so lets get this over and done with. The thing is i don’t know who to support anymore , each one of the has a nice story to tell should they win.
    8)

  95. Oh, by the way, next year i’m coming to terrorise the African championship should i qualify???? Ha ha ha ha ha!!1 Its ok to dream you know but. Just cracking a joke. 😆

  96. How many of you guys think the chess drum shouldd be extended to a chess playing site??:?:
    That would be great because even more interaction and unity would be fullfilled inthis region. ❗

  97. Nothing yet otty.

    It’s the last round and there are always delays after the last round. In fact, many times organizers forget because they are busy packing up sets, clocks and other items. Players are usually relieved and socializing by now. Let’s hope they can report soon. Given the lack of coverage on the Namibian website, we may not hear anything for a couple of hours. I have not seen one photo or report from the official site.

  98. It makes me sad why women are getting less money. We want to see more women in sport. Give our women equal opportunities.

  99. :mrgreen: 😐 😈 ➡ 😯 🙂 😕 8) 👿 😀 💡 😳 😛 🙄 😉 😥 😮 😆 😡 🙁 ❗ ❓

    THAT IS WHAT I AM FEELING RIGHT NOW. IF NOBODY SAYS NOTHING IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES I MIGHT 😈 😮 😆 😥 :mrgreen: 🙄

  100. I’m not sure what the 36,000 figure is. The exchange rate is N$7.20=US$1 so if it were Namibian currency that would be US$5,000.00. I have not seen the prize structure and it is not posted on the Namibian website.

  101. Sometime back someone dismissed me when i asked if it was possible that IM Gwaze becomes GM Before IM Simutowe but i think it is very much possible should Gwaze winthis.

  102. mark,

    I found the source of your link. The link is under “downloads” on namibianchessfederation.com. It would have been good to have a link to these documents from their official tournament page… at least the regulations document.

    There are errors in the document as well. There were no rest days and the tournament ending on September 9th. In the document, they had one rest day and round 9 being played on September 10th with the closing ceremony immediately after. I would imagine that the closing ceremony took place after the games today and the reporting of the results has been delayed. I’ll e-mail Otto Nakapunda.

    https://www.namibianchessfederation.com/Pages/dl.php 

  103. A playing function on The Chess Drum sounds great, but not feasible (at this time) from a management standpoint. You would need a staff to run such an operation. A playing site would take a lot more resources in terms of server capacity, personnel and security. If someone else can build such a site, I could host it or at the least help publicize it. Realize that The Chess Drum is run by ONE person.

  104. I can believe it. Read my pre-round report. 😉

    I would like to see the last round results. That will prove to be interesting. I have e-mailed a couple of people. There was the possibility of a lot of 6-3 scores and a fight for the last spot.

    This was an exciting tournament!

  105. FINAL STANDINGS ARE IN!!

    Men’s Results 
    Women’s Results

    The playoff will be between Amon and the other players at 6-3. If you look at the pairing there were nine on 5-3. Three had 6-2, so depending on the results of round nine it would come down to some type of tiebreaks. It looks like Abdel-Razik, Belkhodja, Simutowe and Sarwat.

    Rk.  Name           FED Rtg   Pts. TB1  TB2
    1 IM Gwaze Robert   ZIM 2413  7,0  41,0 40,0
    2 IM Aderito Pedro  ANG 2305  6,5  42,0 37,5
    3 IM El Gindy Essam EGY 2507  6,5  39,0 32,5
    4 GM Amin Bassem    EGY 2535  6,5  37,0 32,0
    5 GM Adly Ahmed     EGY 2488  6,5  30,0 27,5

    6 FM Abdel Razik K. EGY 2372  6,0 37,0 31,5
    7 GM Belkhodja Slim TUN 2478  6,0 36,0 32,0
    8 IM Simutowe Amon  ZAM 2421  6,0 35,5 31,5
    9 IM Sarwat Walaa   EGY 2388  6,0 32,5 28,5

    They tricked me. I thought in order for Simutowe to have a chance there had to be a number of draws on board 5-8, but they are not using the numerical tiebreaks. Apparently they will go to matches even though the tournament regulations stated they’d use Progressive then Bucholz. Below are the regulations:

    In both events, if there is a tie for the medal winners and/or the qualifiers for the World Cup, these ties will be resolved in the following order; by the results between the players involved in the tie, Sum of Progressive Score, failing that Buchholz, failing that Sonneborn-Berger, failing that number of won games.

    In the event of the foregoing tiebreak system being inconclusive, tie break matches will be used as a final resort.

    The tiebreak matches will be in the form of 4 rapid games of 25 minutes each and thereafter 2 rounds of blitz sudden death.

  106. Gwaze has won the championship with 1/2 point. A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to my compatriot! This will lift the spirits of everybody associated with Zim chess!!!

  107. Congratulations to IM Robert Gwaze, We are proud of you and in you and the other five Masters lies the hope of Africa in the coming World Cup. Good luck to all those who will be representing us. Daaim Shabazz, it has been a great blog that kept us glued to the screens and awaiting the results and the reactions, may all the blessing of the most high be with you and your family.

  108. Travis,

    Gwaze played inspiring chess. This is his second norm. He actually needs one more GM norm to become GM-elect. That means he will have to arrange a schedule of tournaments. I think he may get it within the year if he plans aggressively. He has the African crown and the 9-0 golden performance that may get him invitations. Lots of good things are happening in the African Diaspora.

    Hopefully, they will have some pictures of the event. I have not seen one yet!

  109. Fantastic tournamet! It seems that Erikson Roberto from Angola will get ELO rating of 2262 and he is just 15 years old!

    Congrats to all winners.

  110. I know I am posting at the last minute but I want to say

    Congratulations to

    IM Gwaze, IM Aderito as winners/qualifiers;

    GM-elect Simutowe as possible qualifier, and displaying
    great stamina;

    IM Adu, IM Mamombe for putting forth the effort(I can’t say more
    without seeing some games).

    Three of you I have met either in person or by email, and I wish
    the best to you all in chess and in family!!

    Peace

    And shout out to Travis Hoskins…drop a brother a line sometime.

    :=)

    😀

  111. Remember Comment 91, i said i put my money on Gwaze. Congragulations shangwari. Maeta szwakanaka. Otherwise tasikwera in Colchester. I have no doubt if you could just play a series of tournaments you would be a GM before the end of the year, since you already one in the making.Guys that was a fantastic week of hot chess. My GMs from Botswana, that was a good try. Le Pro and FM all the best. WGM Studu and WFM Donkieys, that was a good try. I wish Modesto was there.

  112. Dear Chess enthusiast and able commentators,

    What’s up with the Zs of Africa these days? The “Zs” seems to have gone on rampage like the Elephant of Africa don’t you think? And what does Z stands for in Africa these days anyway? Well, should in case you are just joining us on the blog and you don’t know, the Z stand for Zambia and Zimbabwe which can now be translated to mean “Zealous and brilliant Performance in chess”, first by Amon Simutowe of Zambia and now by Robert Gwaze of Zimbabwe. What terrific performance and achievements we are witnessing in these young black African players and it’s not only recently that we have seen such from them.

    If you ask me, I will say we haven’t seen anything yet from these two Twin Towers of black African Chess. Amon just got his 3rd GM norm with a brilliant play at the EUWE tournament and he is now a Grandmaster elect. Robert just won the African Championship convincingly and now earned his 2nd GM norm and on his way to the world championship event with others. This is some fantastic news one after the other in just a short period of time. It’s only a matter of time before we have our 4th black Grandmaster in the world from Africa. What a lovely story this is and its unfolding right before our eyes.

    So fellars, get to the nearest Pub quickly and order your next beer and send the bill to the African Chess big bosses- Lewis NCUBE and Nizar Ali ELHAJ, while the celebration is still ongoing but just don’t tell them I sent you. Seriously, we have reasons to celebrate and it should be a big one too.

    A big congratulations then goes to IM Gwaze for his terrific victory and congratulations to all those who qualified to represent Africa at the next World Championship event (the 1st 5 players on the list with the 6th person to be decided by play off soon). We are very proud of you and we shall be rooting for you all the way to the world championship tournament. In not to distance future, more African chess players will rise up to do similar exploits and we can’t wait to see it. It appears it’s the year of the “Africa Grandmaster norm hunger” and hopefully it will spread far and wide like the wildfire of the Savannah Forest soon.

    Long live African Chess!!!

  113. ZAMBIA beats South Africa 3 – 0 , Simutowe not yet out and Gwaze eish man ! Mek we chant UHURU ..Freedom at last.
    Congrats Zim man. Wata sinting man !!

    Cool runnings

  114. thank yo gwaze. my only blame is to the zimbawean sports journalis.. nuthing has been said about this young man over this past ches period. even during the africa games they said nuthing only to be happy we gwaze got the silver medal. i think he deserves something, he might not hav reached the highs of Kirsty Coventry our golden swimmer but i still believe he is the next best athelete in the country or somewhere ther. congrats Gwaze. also congrats to mandizha, masango, makoto and mamombe. u did us proud

  115. As I have said after round 5, Gwaze is a walking Fritz. He has a good tendency of finishing undefeated, thats a true Champ. He is such a solid player. Aderito Pedro failed at 2005 championships but these time he was on fire. What a come back by Adly or it was strategy to lose the first 2 games and sprint all the way.

    Chapadongo,
    The Egyptians made it by a wisker as you said it. They are quite tactical. Whats your last post motem of the games, say your analysis bro.

  116. Congratulations to Gwaze for the splendid performance :!:.Big up to all the players. To all the federations which sent there players to the Games I say TWO THUMBS UP!

    To the Zambian girls I say never give up..some day a saviour will come to your rescue.Dont lose heart guys Ok!

    Daaim, it’s been one roller coaster..Keep the Beat going!!!

    So long my blog mates!

  117. Shabazz,
    Did Adly lose those first 2 games intentionally or not. One may wonder if it was his strategy to make his way up via moderate players. We almost counted him out but what a come back. One last thing, if you have time can you please update the historic drum games. I think I have seen almost all. ie Poweful perfomances, brilliant attack etc.

  118. As we rejoice in Gwaze’s achievement ,I thought it would be great to share with you a few interesting things about Zimbabwean chess scene. For a long time the country has always had exciting prospects particularly in the scholars ranks but there seems be a lack of investment in the brilliant players we have when they finish school. In 1997, my school first team (Gifford) each player( Pemba, Silenje, Muzuva and Moyo) had a rating of about Elo 1900- 2000 and we were able to win national schools championship convincingly ahead of much fancied Gwaze’s PE, Bruce Mubaiwa St Ignatious and Kutama. Of course Gwaze was at that time easily +2100! We had other players who were not far off, Andrew Mgijima (his games with Gwaze were always wild and explosive because of their similar style), Mubaiwa, Genius Runyowa, Taka Chipanga, Luberto brothers. Infact, we had one guy M Mbuyazwe who was the same age as Gwaze and had +3 score against Gwaze that year! The preceding years also saw the likes Chinodakufa , Kampinya, Pawandiwa, Muwomo, Mangena and Mthethwa turning on the chess heirachy on its head by posting regular wins against seasoned national team players like IM Mamombe, FM Kanengoni, Cochrane, Mauwa, Chaka, Mangwengwende and others in various national tournaments. It would be a travesty to not to mention about my friend Wisdom Chikwanda. He was introduced to the game in 1996 by Thabang Moyo and became my regular sparring partner. His meteoric ascendency to being a national junior champion and a member of the national team is a testament of the potential that needs to be tapped if we are to have more IMs and GMs.

    It is my heartfelt plea to all associated with Zim chess to seriously think about whatever resources we can invest in our wonderful ambassadors such as IM Gwaze, FM Mandizha, Chipanga, IM Mamombe and all the active top players. It would be great to also support Zimbabwe chess development in a more focused way. We owe it to ourselves to ensure that the latent talent and great potential is not needlessly lost.

  119. Abel,

    There are a number of segments that need updating… Game Library, Drum Major profiles, The Chess Academy, etc. I hope to work on these in coming weeks, but as things are constantly happening in chess news, it is difficult to always focus on these projects. Being a professor is also very demanding as well!

    Thanks!

  120. Shabazz,
    Thats great to hear. I know it wont be easy to do that and since you are doing everything for drum. Its quite demanding. You are doing a great job by keeping the drum beating. There has never been a website that covered African games like the Drum before.
    So what are you post games comments?

  121. Abel,

    I’m reserving my comments until after the playoffs. 🙂

    I also covered the All-Africa Games in 2003 and 2007 and the African Individuals in 2005. Here is the 2005 African Championships coverage.

    https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2005/NB_AfricanCh2.html

    Typically I’m limited in that I have to rely on the people at the playing site. Again… no photos have been made available and I want to put Gwaze on the front of The Chess Drum.

  122. Here is what Jackie Ngubeni had to predict on his webby ‘The Chess Academy’ some days ago (I guess):
    https://www.chessacademy.co.za/

    Excerpts:
    #1. Gm. Hicham Hamdouchi is comfortably the leading player in the continent. He once was a +2600 Elo player and even made the Fide top 100! Hicham plies his chess trade in Spain, arguably the epicenter of chess globally. His place is secure as 1st in the top six! In the past he did not even have to play. The rest had to duel for the five places. Trust me, if he shows up in Namibia, he will be #1 when the dust settles.

    #2 GM. Amin Bassem is armed with the youthful energy. This boy genius is quickly establishing himself as a ferocious chess player the continent has ever produced. He recently played well in Dubai. This gives an impression of form going into this event. I place him firm #2.

    #3. GM. Ahmed Adley. This young man is the defending champ! He may not be in position 3 on the Top 20, but hey! Check out his performance in the previous Africa Championships plus his bout with super GM. Ponomariov at the World Cup afterwards and you will agree that he will be amongst the medallists. I say Bronze!

    #4. IM.Essam El Gindy deserves respect. He should not be ignored when the stakes are this high. The fact that he faced an Openings speculative Bishop sacrifice by the slippery IM.Kobese the last time around in this event had him obfuscated. He will quickly put that penultimate game and the “bluff” behind him and knuckle down to good chess he is accustomed to displaying. Expect him at position 4!

    Then as an afterthought (I’d imagine) among a bunch of guys to make it into the spots 7 – 10, he adds;

    IM Robert Gwaze deserves special mention as he earned much respect in the Internet. However this will not be the style he invented himself into. Long and slow manuevering of pieces as opposed to tricks & traps will win the day. Expect Gwaze to battle. Perhaps do well in the early stage, then fade towards the bottom heap. He collected too much dust and cob webs over the years to worry the young tigers!.
    …………………………………………………………..
    What sarcasm. Boy, isn’t it fun to predict! I hate the embarrassment that’s got to come with the offmarks thereof!

  123. The Championships have been exciting. I followed the results and comments closely during the nine (9) days of competition.
    I can imagine Amon’s fatigue after his hectic schedule but sometimes champions and leaders have to make these sacrifices.
    I am not familiar with most of the players but there seems to be a lot of talent in Africa and with proper guidance/sponsorhip more titled players will emerge.
    It seems that the inhibitors to progress of players in developing countries is the same all over but we in the Caribbean are putting things in place to make some giant leaps.
    People seemed to get really excited by having a place to chat during the games and The Chess Drum, with the input of the dedicated Dr. Daaim Shabazz fit the bill superbly.
    Regarding the suggestion to host tournaments, we are now experimenting with using playchess.com to do so. This is a free service, so perhaps interested persons can explore this further. This would allow anyone (in any part of the world) to participate from the comfort of their home/club and forge ties with some of the future stars of Chess.

    Best regards from Trinidad and Tobago

  124. Big up Gwaze!! 7/9 points.Your result just sell off!!!Out and badd!!Good pocket money for you man US $6000 .Its celebration time a.k.a head drop off & a roll like a dice time!!Pour yourself a glass of Red Bull and Guiness get the rizzla and roll yourself the biggest spliff listening to Movado’s new Album .

    Every Ghetto yout is an element of surprise -Sizzla Kalonje.

  125. Congradulatoins IM Gwaze, you were on fire this time. Make sure you work on your third GM norm while you are on form like this, you can defenetly do it.

    Any body with updates for playoffs.

  126. Congradulatoins IM Gwaze, you were on fire this time. Make sure you work on your third GM norm while you are on form like this, you can defenetly do it.

    Any body with updates for playoffs. I hope our GM-elect makes it

  127. Daaim Shabazz you defenetly deserve an honour for all your efforts. The whole thing shall grow, it’s only a matter of time.

    To all drum lovers, lets help this site grow in all ways including finacially if you know a couple of people.

  128. Congrats to Robert Gwaze, you really put up a splendid performance. to Our hero, Amon Simutowe, we wish you the best in the play-offs and i am optmistic you shall get the last berth. You will be received with thunderous celebrations here at home.Congrats too for the 3rd GM norm.

  129. I’VE BEEN WAITING TOO BUT IT SEEMS I HAVE RUN OUT OF PATIANCE, ‘IM FLYING THERE NOW!! COME ON, SOMEBODY PLEASE RESCUE US.
    😡 😀

  130. People still refuse to respond to a question i asked during the early hours of this tournament. DO YOU SEE THE POSSIBILITY OF GWAZE BECOMING A GM BEFORE SIMUTOWE.?!?

  131. plays were GM Belkhodja Slim verus IM Simutowe Amon amon won 2 -0
    FM Abdel Razik Khaled versus IM Sarwat Walaa khaled won 2-0

    Final playoff IM Simutowe Amon versus FM Abdel Razik Khaled the first main games was 1-1

    Then FM Abdel Razik Khaled won 1.5 -0.5 blitz

  132. Thanks mark!

    If it were not for you, we would not have the scores. The website had no information and neither did chess-results.com. Simutowe e-mailed me and told me he beat Belkhodja, but lost to Abdel-Razik.

  133. Congratulations to all the winner, and since you have all as usual concentrated on the men Championship, I decided to Cogratulate the Women.
    Mona Khaled the Egyptian Chess Prodigy who is ONLY 13 YEARS and the former African Junior Girls Champion in 2005 (when she was 11) deserves a special congratulations as she will be the 2nd WGM in Africa and one of the youngest WGM in the world, as she was before the youngest WIM in chess history.
    https://www.chessacademy.co.za/ has predicted after the 9th African Games in which Mona got 2 Gold Medals that she will be the winner of this Championship, and it came true.
    Congratulations to all the Women in the tournament and wishing to have a lot of WGM in Africa.

  134. Mamato,

    You are certainly right about the focus on the Men’s Championships. However, that may be due to the fact that the men are well-known and the rivalries have been fierce over the years. So little is known about the women players, so it is hard to make informed comments about their play. However, you are right in that they deserve recognition for their accomplishments.

    I would hope that women of Africa who earn titles can get the support they need so when they go abroad, they will be able to compete with the other WGMs… and GMs! The worst thing in chess is to hold a title, but not to be respected by your peers.

  135. It would also be heartening if some of the players being lauded came here to “applaud” their fans unless of course if they are not aware a website like thechessdrum.net exists.On the whole I am glad the tournament took place at all .The standard of games was not that high in my opinion with most high finishers just “scraping through “.This is in contrast to well established European tournaments where GM norms are on offer like Aeroflot Open ,Capelle ,Monarch Assurance ,Wijk aan Zee Open.It would be interesting and encouraging if our Grandmaster aspirants earned their norms in tournaments of such calibre than say earn a rather debatable GM norm by winning some obscure Continental Junior Championships repeatedly with less than 8 FIDE rated opponents ,no GMs ,IMs or indeed anyone rated over Elo 2250 .

    (Proverbs 12:1) Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish

  136. Dear Daaim:
    Thanks for confirming my point, and hope the women players in Africa get the recognition they deserve and the trainning they need as we currently have great young girls like Mona Khaled (EGY) and Melissa Griff (RSA) who if got enough support now can be World Champions easily.

  137. Mamato,

    The operative word is “support.” However, there has to be talent and training. If 13-year old Mona Khaled is to step onto the world stage, she will have to compete with those such as 13-year old Hou Yifan of China who is also a WGM and 2500+ ELO rating… Khaled is 2000 ELO and has not played the level of competition of Hou. Therein, a huge gap lies.

    The problem in Africa is that while one gets titles, recipients often lack exposure, so it is common to see ratings not equal to the minimum standard for the title (2500=GM, 2400=IM, 2300=FM, etc.) . I have seen IMs with 2000 ELO and other players often raise questions of how they got the title. More needs to be done to ensure standards and to provide an environment for chess talent to flourish. FIDE has not done much for Africa, so many federations will have to seek corporate support and establish partnerships with other federations.

  138. Darren,

    That has been a debated issue for many years when discussing developing federations. It is possible to get FIDE norms and/or titles by winning specific tournaments or scoring a certain win percentage. These rules apply to all federations. This may be one way for a federation to increase the amount of titled players, but I don’t believe this practice will last. As I said, when you go to a strong tournament and you are an IM or GM with a low ELO, you will fight to gain respect.

    I learned that FIDE ELO ratings carry more weight than titles from an International Arbiter. He was organizing a tournament and was concerned about the tournament’s rating category for norms. There were players who were IMs, but their ratings were too low and he needed a higher rating category. The higher the category, the stronger the tournament and the fewer points needed to earn a norm.

    There is no question in my mind that both Simutowe and Gwaze are talented and GM material. They followed the FIDE rules to earn the titles and norms and can carry the weight of their titles. I must agree that some players in developing regions have become too focused on earning titles by scoring well in one single tournament. That is because it may be one of the few international opportunities for them.

    In smaller federations, one does not always have the luxury to attend a Hastings, Aeroflot, Capelle LaGrande, Wijk ann Zee, etc. These are well-funded tournaments with a tradition. However, I believe smaller federations should market their countries to the world as great places to play chess. I don’t know of too many people who would refuse an opportunity to play in an African or Caribbean country with good conditions. If you cannot go to the competition, bring it to you!

  139. Well said Daaim, that is what we have been saying all along. If you cannot go to the competition as is the case in many African countries (in fact some players will not even get the VISA to travel out to play in big tournaments abroad even if they have the funds) why not bring the tournament to them. This can be sumed up in just one word and this is “Sponsorship”. That is the magic word. Without it, the story will remain the same

  140. Daaim

    I agree in smaller federations one does not always have a luxury of attending the high profile Open tournaments we listed earlier but hey ,the titles in the end are recognized at world level .The FIDE rules need an ammendment on that one,hope someone brings it up at next congress.If something is not done we will keep on producing titled players with ridicolous ratings thereby demeaning the value of International titles.
    You also mention that Gwaze and Simutowe are GM material, hmmn , I personally see them as potential GMs
    though they still have to prove themselves at more credible tournaments .They rightly play at IM level evidenced for example by 7 or so Strong Open tournaments Simutowe has participated in the last 7 years on each occassion failing to make the GM norm standard but making a strong case for IM standard e.g at Bad Worishofen 2001 https://www.thechessdrum.net/palview/Sprenger-Simutowe.htm (Good tournament that Amon!!).Gwaze has also balked in strong open events too e.g Coventry International 2005 and British Championships.Whether monetary resources allow or we keep on producing artificial titled players is certainly moot.
    Its never easy for pacesetters but next generation will always be better.

    “Faith is a higher faculty than reason.” — Henry Christopher Bailey

  141. Darren,

    If you are reading my previous comments, you would see that we are in agreement on the granting of titles. I am more of a proponent of requiring three norms rather than getting a title in one tournament. However, if they keep the ruling of earning titles at the continental level (and at age-based tournaments), there needs to be a minimum standard of competition.

    Simutowe has the title of IM, but is now officially GM-elect. He has played in many of the top tournaments in Europe and the U.S. and has performed at a good standard. However, norms are tricky things. To score 7.5/9 in Bad Worishofen and not get a GM norm is one of those unfortunate instances. In the past four years, Simutowe had failed to make GM standard for a number of different reasons. Not the least that he had spent most of the last four years studying intensely at the university and not focusing 100% on chess. Gwaze simply has not played in two years and has served primarily as a trainer.

    I’m not sure what you mean by credible tournaments. People vying for GM titles do not all play at the elite tournaments you’ve mentioned. There are many closed tournament that are held for the purposes of earning norms. Do you think all top players of today earned their norms at top tournaments? Some of them are held locally and they fly in GMs and give them conditions to play. If you have a GM norm tournament and it is approved by FIDE, you are considered “tested” if you’ve met minimum standards for the norm category. It’s a very tricky business… especially in Swiss formats.

  142. i think he means the last round where mudongo apparently lost due to a cell phone violation…… anyone know the exact details… ❓

  143. Daaim

    Just in case you do not know what I mean by credible tournaments you probably want to look no further that FIDE vice president himself Azmaiparashvilli’s (some call him Asbo-parashvili )very famous victory at the Macedonian town of Strumica in 1995.You can google Azmaiparashvilli Strumica for yourself.Anyway here is what happened;
    In a four player sextuple round robin, the scores were:
    Azmaiparashvili 16/18
    Kutirov 11.5/18
    Kurajica 4.5/18
    Rashkovsky 4/18
    Azmai went from 2610 to 2660 – quite a huge jump for one rating list and susequently qualified for a future tournament with a high rating pre-requisite after achieving that “success”.
    Kutirov,got the IM AND GM titles, of course he had a huge leap in rating too after Strumica. I checked his rating today and its listed as 2372 .He went from 2330 in late 1994 to 2525 in mid-1996,somebody wonders what has happened to his strength i’m sure.
    I am not sure if anyone has ever suggested the FIDE ethics committee look at this.

    And I recall yet another dubbed “Memorial Heroes of Chernobyl” supposedly held in Óity a Slavutich, Ukraine. https://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2366

    Daaim,how about taking four players from Africa and organize a “Strumica type “of tournament??

    “Every grandmaster should try to organise a tournament at some time in their life”——Artur Yusupov.

  144. There have been so many scandals of people buying norms and titles, but of course Azmai is a very strong player.

    Yep… those ideas have been discussed ever since the Wilbert Paige Memorial tournament in 2001. GM-elect Pontus Carlsson has expressed interest in playing in the U.S. and if you have GM-elect Amon Simutowe, GM Maurice Ashley, IM Stephen Muhammad, IM Emory Tate and IM Robert Gwaze, that would be quite a field in a double round-robin. The only problem is the rating category would be low meaning that the IMs have to get an incredible score for a GM norm.

    I was actually organizing a 32-player tournament with six GMs (including Ashley) a couple of years ago. It was a Swiss format and the Pan-African field included the strongest players from Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas. This was ideal and I could probably get GMs to commit, but of I deferred to Ashley’s HB Global Chess Challenge. The Wilbert Paige Memorial featured 10 of the strongest Black players and was a historic event. We need to organize more events like this if our most talented are to have opportunities for improvement.

  145. Adu just played in the Miami Open and they had him listed as “FM” on the charts and on the name tags. There is NO way they could make such an innocent mistake. Adu has played organizer Blas Lugo twice, so his title is known. Even after Adu told them of their mistake, they said they’d change it, but didn’t. Adu was not forceful enough in his plea, but again… this shows the lack of respect people have for African titlists. Adu’s 2288 ELO shows that he may need more opportunities to improve his rating or players will continue to question his ability… and other IMs with ELO 100-300 points below 2400. Adu beat GMs Zapata (Columbia) and Charbonneau (Canada) in the tournament and got 5-1/2 points.

  146. MIAMI OPENS:
    “Adu beat GMs Zapata (Columbia) and Charbonneau (Canada) in the tournament and got 5-1/2 points……..”

    Can we have some of Adus games here and analze them. Its good for our players to beat more of the GMS to get the needed norms.

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