African Zonal 4.2 (Abuja, Nigeria)
African Championships for Zone 4.2 took place in Abuja, Nigeria and finished on Sunday, June 24th. IM Bunmi Olape (pictured right) bested the field of ten with an undefeated 7.5/9. There were five nations representing their flags with host Nigeria, Egypt, Uganda, Sudan and Ghana competing. In the women’s section there were eight players representing Nigeria, Egypt and Uganda. Here are the final tallies.
1st: Bunmi OLAPE (Nigeria) 7.5, 2nd-4th: Bisiriyu OLUWASEUN (Nigeria), Bomo KIGIGHA (Nigeria), Elijah EMOJONG (uganda), 6; 5th-6th: Oladapo ADU (Nigeria), Sameh SADEK (Egypt) 5; 7th: Onovughe OCHUKO (Nigeria) 4.5; 8th: Emmanuel MADUAGWUNA (Nigeria) 3.5; 9th: Mohammed ELNASRI (Sudan) 1; 10th: Kwadwo BONSU (Ghana) 0.5.
1st: Wafa SHROOK (Egypt), 6; 2nd-3rd: Oluwatobiloba OLATUNJI (Nigeria), Christine NAMAGANDA (Uganda), 5; 4th: Nsisong ASANGA (Nigeria) 4½; 5th: Rachael DAPPA-EDWARD (Nigeria) 3½; 6th: Doris ADEBAYO (Nigeria) 3; 7th: Yemi OSUNDINAKIN (Nigeria) 1; 8th: Iyefu ONOJA (Nigeria), 0.
Brilliant performance Bunmi.all the best!!!!!
This was a discussion on the earning of titles after this result. Bisiriyu OLUWASEUN, Bomo KIGIGHA, Elijah EMOJONG all earned 6/9 which, according to FIDE handbook should be enough for an IM title. There is an excitement of earning titles, but I am urging caution and to keep things in perspective. Here is the conversation on Facebook, Sunday, June 24th, 2012:
Akinleye Akinseye meanwhile the UGANDAN FM Emojong who is on 5 points needs to beat IM dapo adu tomorow to become an IM.
Sunday at 5:00pm via mobile · Like
Daaim Shabazz Does Bisiriyu have an ELO?
Sunday at 5:01pm · Like
Charles Campbell ?@ daaim: no he doesn’t.
Sunday at 6:01pm via mobile · Like
Daaim Shabazz Not sure how FIDE will look at this.
Sunday at 6:41pm · Like
Akinleye Akinseye ?@ Daaim Shabazz
hmmm you have a point there, but is there any rule that says a player must have an ELO RATING prior to an event before he can get a title? Olamide Ajibowo did not have an ELO before the last olympiads but he got his first ELO rating and FM title in that event.i hope i am correct on this one though.
Sunday at 6:55pm via mobile · Like · 3
Kolawole Raphael Bisiriyu BUMZO d UNDERTAKER.
Monday at 1:41pm · Like
Daaim Shabazz I’m not sure Akinleye Akinseye about the IM title, but I have not read any restrictions either. They may confer, but the arbiters may have to explain. I only know that the days of earning titles in this fashion are coming to an end. There is talk of tightening the requirements to assure that the titles are earned with some consistent standard. Generally FMs have to reach 2300 ELO and IM has to earn three norms and have 2400 ELO. The argument is the titles are incongruent. I remember discussing this with a FIDE VIP back at the Olympiad at 2008. I have seen many IMs who are 2000-2200 ELO (mostly smaller chess countries) and it causes other titled players to disrespect these standards. You have some IMs who are 2500 ELO and thus a 400- or 500-point difference more than other IMs upon earning the title. I know of a 9-year old FM here in the U.S. who is 1800 ELO. He got the FM in a youth tournament in Brazil. At this time, you can enter a tournament without an ELO, play a field with a few FIDE-rated players and earn an FM or IM title. It is something that is always being discussed. Unfortunately, I have heard a couple of titled Africans boasting that its easier to get these titles this way than the three norms. This is true, but they should not be saying this. I hope that those earning these titles will earn ELO that are commensurate with the strength expectations. That way there is not a questioning of the strength of the players.
Monday at 6:31pm · Like · 8
Amakiri Oruamabo ?@Shabaaz, a nice and very articulate explanation. S
Yesterday at 2:55am via mobile · Like
Akinleye Akinseye ?@DAAIM SHABAZZ
again you have a good point. I believe that the players who earn their titles ‘easily’ through the African zonals sure wants to compete to increase their ELO point. For instance IM Bunmi olape desires to improve on his ELO rating but needs to raise funds which is not always available to attend FIDE sanctioned tournaments lacking in nigeria. Though it is no excuse to condone poorer standards. PERHAPS FIDE should review the rules governing the award of IM TITLES at the zonals and treat the performance as having satisfied the condition but only award the title only when the IM elect attains ELO 2400 to force the players to justify the title.
20 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
Daaim Shabazz Yes… that is a big problem in Africa. What I have suggested in essays is that African federations have to attract GMs and IMs. They will come to Africa. Angola, Botswana and S. Africa have had very strong tournaments with several GMs. The problem with getting the title first is that it makes it hard for those IMs to get invitations for GM norms and also to help others get IM norms. When you are going for IM norms, you need three IMs in the field. Their ELO ratings are important because if they are too low, then a player would have to get near-perfect score for an IM norm. It is, as they say, a catch-22. You want the titles, but you want to keep integrity of the title. I am tired of hearing jokes about Black players and people assuming that we don’t deserve them. In the professional world, your ELO rating carries tremendous weight, not necessarily the title. If you are untitled, but have a 2568 ELO rating (Ni Hua of China had this exact case), that would certainly be regarded higher than having an IM title with a 2000 ELO.
19 hours ago · Like · 1
I took at the FIDE handbook that deals with titles and the rules are very clear. Here is the link – https://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html?id=58&view=article
Moreover, so many IMs in Africa got their titles from the Individual championships.
I have read those rules many times.
“1st, up to 3 players = title.
>= 9 games >= 66 2/3% = title
>= 9 games WIM
Performance counts as 13 games.”
However, it will be interesting to see how FIDE handles it. They may only dispense one IM title since the notes say,
“(d) For zonals/subzonals only one IM/WIM title can be obtained based on a result >=66 2/3 percent, only two FM/WFM titles can be obtained based on a result >=50 percent.”
I have not seen a table from the subzonal to examine the players and whether they met all the requirements, but there is certainly nothing about unrated players obtaining titles. So if it is not included, they may have to award these titles to those who have not yet earned ratings. You do not get an official rating until you’ve played a specific number of games against rated players… I’m not sure if it is three, four or nine. Nevertheless, it would be quite strange to have a FIDE title and no ELO rating.
Congrats to IM Bunmi Olape!!! Outstanding performance. Where are the games from the event?
There were no games archived.
I can paste the games and the final table if you want.
You can post here or send the games to me (webmaster@thechessdrum.net). I will provide a link to the file. If there are not that many, I’ll make them playable on the site.
YES!! thanks Bisriyu. I wonder the strength of IM Bunmi Olap? I know that Adu is very strong and he placed 3rd in this tourney. The games will put some light on the tournament for me.
These games were sent to me by Bisiriyu-Salam Oluwaseun. You wlll have to cut and paste the games into your database. Since they were not in the PGN format, I couldn’t make one file that could be imported directly.
| Round #6 | Round #7 | Round #8 | Round #9 |
Update: None of these players have received the IM title.
Yes more than a year after, None of the players have received the IM title yet another Zonals 4.2 is coming up pretty soon, WHY SO?
I’m not sure they have accepted the results. That was my contention during the debate above and it appears that they have not awarded the titles.