Africa
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Questions about Botswana Chess
Top African chess journalist Kenneth Boikhutswane wrote a very interesting article which points to many of the problems concerning African chess. The story raised the question of why Botswana, one of Africa’s most economically stable countries, was not sending a contingent to the 2007 African Junior Championship held in Malawi last…
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News from Uganda!
Steven and Moses Kawuma at the 2004 Chess Olympiad in Mallorca, Spain. Winning a spot on the Olympiad team is a high honor and it provides a player to (1) represent their nation (2) travel internationally and (3) play strong competition. The Chess Drum has covered two Olympiad tournaments and it…
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What’s next in Black Chess?
The year 2007 had some interesting developments both in general and within the African Diaspora. The World Cup brought us the first non-European champion since Robert James Fischer and saw Viswanathan Anand rise to the top of the rating charts. There was the exciting knockout tournament featuring the resurgence of Gata…
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Khetho wins Botswana Clash!
Kenneth Boikhutswane, “Khetho is chess champ,” Mmegi.com, 18 December 2007. FIDE Master (FM) Phemelo Khetho played well to win the challenge match-up against Ignatius Njobvu at Yarona Country Lodge over the weekend. The duel between the two players ended with the FM beating his opponent 3-1. While Khetho is the…
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GM Baba Sy: World Checkers Champion
I have written a few stories about draughts (checkers) on The Chess Drum. What is amazing is that players of African ancestry have a formidable presence in the game with many Grandmasters in French-speaking Africa. One of the best players ever is Baba Sy (pronounced “see”), a Senegalese master who…
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Championship Reflections by FM Steven Kawuma
Uganda’s Steven Kawuma (Photo by Daaim Shabazz) INTRODUCTION The African Individual Championships took place from 31/08/07 to 11/09/07 and had players from fourteen countries; Uganda, Egypt, Mozambique, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tunisia, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Angola and Sudan. Forty seven players took part in the open section. The biggest…
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Congratulations 2007 African Champions!
IM Robert Gwaze (Zimbabwe) and WIM Mona Khaled (Egypt) are crowned as the 2007 African Champions in Winhoek, Namibia. FIDE Vice-President Lewis Ncube offers official congratulations. Photo courtesy of Namibian Chess Federation. Zimbabwe’s National Anthem | Egypt’s National Anthem
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Video: IM Robert Gwaze on YouTube
On last December 3rd, I wrote a story about Robert Gwaze’s participation in a chess camp in Malaysia. An organizer from Malaysia sent me a clip which was posted on YouTube. I added the link to the story, but I wanted to share it with you here. I believe it was FIDE’s Ignatius Leong who told…
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