2007 African Championships (Winhoek, Namibia)

Thanks for the information. Is there any information of the competitors ?

I thought we have got 2 Simutowe brothers. Is it Amon or Musatwe. https://www.chessacademy.co.za/ for the other brother details

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.

Hey Guys, can you please feed us with championship news.

thnks Doctor for updating/ :D.
who is the next champ???????
lets start predicting.

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

How can this Jackie Ngubeni is still around chess?! Please take care of this famous cheater and lier,before he tricks you again!!!

Have a look at this:
https://closetgrandmaster.blogspot.com/2007/08/fide-finishes-off-african-nightmare.html

https://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20061108102148249C594885

how soon before the next rounds update?

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?

I’ll be in Namibia on Friday…. to check on the games.. I am currently busy mining diamonds…

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.

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.

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

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! 😆

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!

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?

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.

Does anyone know why Watu Kobese is not playing?

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.

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.

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

I know otty but after the tourn you need tp practise and you need material so chill out

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!

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.

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!

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 ➡

🙂 I give it Gwaze. Like you said the shark is tired and he will do everything to show the new GM his true colors.

Updates just received an email saying Gwaze has beaten Simutowe

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.

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.

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”.

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

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

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!

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.

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

the Monomutapa warrior vs The zambezi shark…..uhmn lets see who gets ‘biten’

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.

Against all odds, GWAZE is leading!!!! That guy is a GM in the making and so watch out for him.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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!!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Greetings to all, I am loving the interactions & the conversations.

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.

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.

ABEL,
You’re spot-on my bra

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!

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

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!!

In that case why not make Simutowe a GM? He got all his norms, the elo rating is insignificant.

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

we are behind you gwaze here at home make us proud once again

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.

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

Hoplex let me call namibia get back to you

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?

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

updates please

I have not received any word as of yet. With the last round, I would imagine they will be a bit slow given the closing ceremonies and other matters with visiting federations.

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)

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. ❗

Mr Daaim Shabazz can i just ask if the prizes are in us dollars or local nambian currency?

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

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.

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.

Otty came up with a suggestion of you possibly launching a chessdrum icc or playchess.com?

Daaim
Amon wins and qualifies for play-offs on Monday! Can you believe it?
Any more updates?

So Simutowe will play Khaled in the playoff?

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!!!

Congrats soon to be GM-elect Gawze! This has definitely been inspiring!

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!

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.

:=)

😀

Kimani,

Java games and PGN downloads are at the main coverage page. Rounds 8-9 are not available yet.

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

Story coming! No photos yet. 😐

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

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.

IM Robert Gwaze, 2007 African Champion!

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.

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?

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!

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.

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

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.

waiting

waiting

waiting

waiting ……….

should i beg..nedd i

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.?!?

simutowe lost playoffs

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.

Vaya Con Dios my brethren and sistren.
never loose the inity…

ONE LUV

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

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.

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

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.

Miti,

Unfortunately, the chess-results.com site never posted the games of rounds 8-9. Which game are you referring to?

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.

Check out Steven Kawuma’s essay and pictures here! If not for him, we would not have any other news or photos of the event.

https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/?p=94

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.