2013 African Individual Championships (Tunis, Tunisia)

Things to get used to:

* Every one smokes
* No water or coffee in rooms
* Every one smokes
* Men kissing each other when greeting
* Every one smokes, everywhere
* No one speaks English, only French

OPEN SECTION

On board 1 Donnie van den Heever was paired against the top seed GM Bassem Amin from Egypt. IM Kenny Solomon was paired against CM Deon Solomons and no, they are not brothers. Better for the SA players to meet early in the tournament.

Donnie went into a Fischer-Sozin attack against the Sicilian Najdorf playing an early Bc4 to Bb3. Black played Nc8-d7-c5 and could now exchange the knave for the bishop. Donnie in his usual aggressive style, played f4 and O-O giving the pawn on e4 which was now under attack from both knights. After the exchange of a pair of knights on e4, Donnie played f5 forcing the opening of the a2-g8 diagonal which was controlled by his bishop on b3. Not a boring moment.

GM Amin coolly played what is considered a novelty Qd7 (the book move is d5) against Qh5 which seemed to hold everything. Black, a pawn to the good was to show it could withstand the attack. The concern from a South African point of view was that at this stage GM Amin had only used five minutes on the clock which meant that he was playing a prepared line or was bluffing. You decide for yourself.

Download the game for pure enjoyment.

Kenny and Deon started as if they had a train to catch, playing the first 12 moves in 10 minutes. Deon had white and played his usual Nf3 set up with Kenny opening up the game early on. At one stage all the pieces was centred on the king side with neither player giving an inch.

Deon had some pressure down the g file which Kenny neutralised exchanging into a knight versus bishop endgame. Queens was still on the board. Kenny plonked his knight on f4 and clearly played to avoid a draw. Deon thought he saw an opportunity to go after the b7 pawn, but that allowed Kenny to infiltrate and claim the game.

WOMEN’S SECTION

WIM Anzel Solomons seeded 3rd had black against Nouali Djouher with WIM Tshepang Tlale black against Chaima Lahmar.

Anzel knew she was up against a determined opponent playing for a win when Nouali gave the exchange on c6, rupturing Anzel’s queen side. She had Anzel on the backfoot with a bishop and three pawns for a rook. Anzel managed to exchange some pieces in an attempt to simplify matters, but unfortunately was unable to contain the pawns.

Tshepang established a passed pawn on the d file controlling the game in her quiet way.

MARIUS VAN ZYL
18 MAY 2013

OPEN SECTION

The two Egyptian grandmasters took an early draw on board 1. This must have been team strategy to preserve energy as the draw was agreed on at move 17. Board 3 also saw an early draw.

SA was looking good on all five boards after two hours of play. The question is, will we be able to push home the advantage.

Kenny Solomon with black against Khaleb Abdel Razik, played the Queens Indian against d4. He soon exchanged the bishop pair for the knights hoping that the knights flexibility in a closed position would pull it trough. We all know the theory “Bishops are better than knights in open positions and knights can be better than bishops in closed positions”.

The game went down to the wire with Kenny holding his nerves and forcing white to concede the draw. Donnie Van den Heever played a beautiful game with a ferocious attack against the Centre Counter game. He harassed his opponents queen till the nth degree before giving his rook pair for the petrified queen. On paper this seems strange, but on the board it made absolute sense as black’s king side rook was still on the h8 square a mere spectator to the game. When the dust settled Donnie had Queen and four pawns versus Rook, Bishop and three pawns. His two queen side pawns were however connected passed pawns. Deon Solomons lured his opponent to a complicated middle game where just about all the pieces was “en prise” at one stage. He clearly had the better of his opponent and scored a comfortable win.

WOMEN’S SECTION

Anzel Solomons was paired against WIM Shrook Wafa from Egypt. Many players will recall the two Wafa sisters who represented Egypt in the 2012 African Youth Chess Championship. This is the elder sister now representing Egypt at Top level. Wafa played the Italian game with ensuing middlegame complications. Anzel had the edge for long periods, but conceded the advantage and the game in time trouble.

Tshepang Tlale faced Djouher Nouali who had defeated Anzel in round 1. It was sweet revenge as Tshepang demonstrated her technical endgame ability with knight against bishop. In the end it’s all about the kings position. Boikhutso Mudongo was flying high at board 2, but found the going tough. Tshepiso Lopang (Botswana) won her second game of the tournament.

MARIUS VAN ZYL
MONDAY 20 MAY 2013

I am not certain. The top three in each section qualify… Amin, Adly, El-Gindy. Africa gets six slots. One from each of the zones (4.1, 4.2, 4.3) and three from the African Championships. IM Samy Shoker of Egypt won 4.2; FM Gillian Bwalya of Zambia won zone 4.3. Not sure who won 4.1.