2007 African Championships (Winhoek, Namibia)

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

Results can be found here:
https://chess-results.com/Tnr7817.aspx?tnr=7817&art=0&lan=1&mm=1&m=-1

Adly Ahmed and some other strong players lost their first games.

ladies’s results guys.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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

Oty
Oatlhotse is the main man.Come on Lepro

😀

Gwaze is now leading the tourney. I think we need a seperate blog. Wish Gwaze the best against Simutowe.

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.

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

Gwae does it again

Anybody out there!! Can you pliz keep us posted with updates, and pliz don’ shift from this blog.

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”.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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????? 🙄

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,

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.

Daaim,
Didn’t Gwaze earn his second GM norm when he won gold at the Olympiad?

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.

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!

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?

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

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?

ABEL,
You’re spot-on my bra

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.

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.

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

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.

Hoplex let me call namibia get back to you

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?

updates please

Still nothing yet here?

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. 😆

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.

YALL GATA SAY SOMETHING. CALL YOUR WIFE OR HUSBAND PLAYING THERE PLIZ. I’M JUST BORED, I NEED GOOD NEWS

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

So Simutowe will play Khaled in the playoff?

Congrats Gwaze !! Well played .

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.

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.

:=)

😀

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!!!

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

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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

Can anyone explain to me in details as to what happenned in Mudongo’s game?

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.