2019 African Individual Championships (Tunis, Tunisia)
This has been an outstanding year for African chess thus far. With successful subzonals held, new zone format and the groundbreaking Grand Chess Tour held in Abidjan, there is hope that this just may be the “African Century.” The momentum continues in Tunis, Tunisia where the 2019 African Individual is being held. It is the home of the first Grandmaster from the African continent in Slim Bouaziz (1993).
The field this year is the strongest in many years with seven GMs and 13 IMs. While Arkady Dvorkovich’s initiative to spread chess to developing regions can be applauded, what is happening on the continent is simply and natural evolution during a time when information acquisition and online competition is widely available.
Since Bassem Amin won his 5th title last year, Egypt has gained another Grandmaster in Adham Fawzy and Algeria has a young GM in 21-year old Bilel Bellahcene. Bellahcene won the 4.1 zone with a 9-0 score! Another young player to watch in Madagascar FIDE Master Fy Rakotomaharo who won the 4.3 zone with an 8/9 score.
One of the returnees to the championship is 11-time Moroccan champion Hichem Hamoudouchi who was once the continent’s strongest player. Hamdouchi moved to France, switched his federation, got married to WGM Adina-Maria Bogza and became French national champion in 2013. He later moved to Qatar and changed his federation back to his native affiliation. He bolsters a powerful lineup with Egypt’s Amin and Ahmed Adly, his successors in carrying the African mantle. Hamdouchi was the first player on the continent to eclipse 2600 and Amin was the first player to pass the 2700 mark. Egypt’s Essam El-Gindy and South Africa’s Kenny Solomon round out the field of Grandmasters.
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IM Andrew Kayonde of Zambia looks to join the World Cup field
Photos by Alina L’Ami
With this year being a World Cup qualifier, 44 hopefuls have assembled in Tunis for the last two spots. Bellahcene (winner of subzonal 4.1), Adly (winner of subzonal 4.2), Rakotomaharo (winner of subzonal 4.3) have already qualified. Twenty-two year old IM Daniel Anwuli (Nigeria), who won subzonal 4.4 has also qualified. The World Cup will take place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia from 9 September to 4 October 2019.
Eighteen federations have sent players with host Tunisia fielding seven, Nigeria with six and Zambia with four in the Open Section. The event should see quite a few upsets as this is one of the few opportunities for players to face GM-level competition on Africa soil.
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The women’s section has 22 players from 11 federations with host Tunisia carrying five players. Egypt’s Shahenda Wafa will defend her crown as the top seed with her older sister Shrook Wafa, a two-time champion. Both Egypt and Algeria occupy the top seven slots and have dominated the continental championships in the past 15 years.
WGM Shahenda Wafa, 2018 African Women’s Champion
With Zambia’s Lorita Mwango seeded 8th at 1931, she will look to upset the tables as she did a few years back with several upset wins. Jesse February of South Africa and 4.4 zonal champion Toritsemuwa Ofowino of Nigeria have high hopes.
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Note: There is no official website, but several websites (i.e., Africa Chess Media and Kenya Chess Masala) will be covering the action with The Chess Drum. There is also the African Chess Confederation (ACC) Facebook page.
Drum Coverage: https://www.thechessdrum.net/
Chess-Results: (Open, Women)
PGN Games: (Open, Women)
Regulations: https://www.fide.com/
Amin on a roll, crushes Fawzy… Adly back in the hunt
Shrook devastating field, 6/6
OPEN
Another exciting round of chess. Three of the top seeds are back on course and are sitting atop the field with 5/6. The situation may favor Ahmed Adly since he has already played three of the top seeds. He plays Adham Fawzy tomorrow. Neither Bassem Amin nor Bilel Bellahcene have played Hicham Hamdouchi. Amin plays Essam El-Gindy tomorrow while Bellahcene will play the undefeated Fy Rakotomaharo.
In today’s games, Amin totally destroyed Fawzy who must’ve woken up this morning from a bad dream. With the white pieces, Fawzy essayed the Scotch Gambit and unknowingly went into a line where black has a huge plus score. It is surprising that the young GM would play this line against someone of Amin’s caliber. The lines are too concrete and black is generally able to equalize… if he can avoid traps. This game was a complete disaster for Fawzy and by move 15, he was strategically busted.
Adly got back on the winning track with a win over Adlane Arab and his attempt to avoid the “Killer Catalan” with 5…b5!? This move is actually being tested at top level by none other than Viswanathan Anand, Evgeny Alekseev, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The line turned out to be very complicated and Adly showed better preparation and got a lasting advantage even with the queens off. The end of the game is instructive and proves that even with completely equal material, there is something to play for.
Bilel Bellahcene – Mahfoud Oussedik
saw 6.h4!? against the Najdorf
Bellahcene, who was raised in France, has to be quite prepared to face Mahfoud Oussedik’s Najdorf, the main weapon of French player Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Certainly there is a lot of discussion in Najdorf circles about ways to upset the dynamic defense.
The new trend in the Najdorf is after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h4!? It appears that every other pawn move has been played on white’s sixth move (even 6.h3), so this is the latest. The idea is multifaceted and at the least, white can use the move to shore up his bishop on g5. There is also the idea of f3 and g4.. or even f4 and potentially g4!
GM Bilel Bellahcene essaying the latest approach against Najdorf.
Photo by Tunisia Chess Federation
This game was a classical opposite wing battle and lived up to its billing. Without much help the white queen invaded black’s position and wreaked havoc after 27.Qh8+ Bf8 28.Qg8 Bb5 29.c3 Nb6 30.Qe6+ Kd8 31.Qxe5! The game was a clinic on how to catch an opponent flat-footed in preparation. Wonderful game by Bellahcene!
Lastly, there were two similar endings in both sections today. In Miladi-Moaataz and Munenga-Rakotomaharo, there were rook endings with a- and h- pawns remaining for one side. As we segway to the women’s section, let’s look at the positions and see how they evolved.
In the position above, black has to run his king over toward the rook to break the barrier and walk up the board to support the pawn while the rook helps to stop the enemy’s pawns. It is a common theme in rook endings. The rook can sometimes stop up to three pawns if the king is close enough.
IM Fy Rakotomaharo (Madagascar)
Photo by Amruta Mokal
This position was very instructive because of the frequency in which rook endings occur and Rakotomaharo showed enough patience to prevent counterplay. The 20-year old IM remains undefeated, but will have a stiff test against Bellahcene tomorrow. He certainly has GM norm aspirations and of course, if he wins the tournament he will get the GM title outright. The Malagasy player won the 4.3 zonal with 8/9 so he is in excellent form.
There were a good number of draws in today’s action. Since there are no rest days, it may be no wonder that fatigue may become a factor. The tournament standings are so critical that blunders as a result of fatigue can change the fortune of the tournament quickly. There were six draws from 21 games. We can expect more in the rounds to come as players become more cautious about their position and title chances.
IM Fy Rakotomaharo (Madagascar) – GM Bellahcene Bilel (Algeria)
GM Amin Bassem (Egypt) – GM Essam El Gindy (Egypt)
GM Fawzy Adham (Egypt) – GM Adly Ahmed (Egypt)
IM Adlane Arab (Algeria) – GM Hicham Hamdouchi (Morocco)
IM Mahfoud Oussedik (Algeria) – GM Solomon Kenny (South Africa)
Back to business. Eleven games played. Eleven games decisive. The bad news is that Shahenda Wafa is all but eliminated from defending her title successfully, but her sister can be an able successor. Shrook Wafa played another sparkling game against Nigeria’s Toritsemuwa Ofowina. The 18.Rxd7! shot was the finsher on 23.Nd7+ black resigned.
Zambia’s Lorita Mwango eliminated the defending champion from contention. Photo by Tunisia Chess Federation
Sabrina Letreche has rebounded after being beaten badly by Wafa on board 1. Not often you get to see mate on the board but this game was decided when Sabine Ravelomanana had an oversight and lost a piece on move 12. There were some tactics in the middlegame and black ended up with three pawns for the piece, but they were trebled on the c-file. Letreche attacked the queenside pawns directly and begin to pick them off. Despite being a piece down, there are still chances to liquidate all pawns and begin counting. Before that happened the Ravelomanana walked into mate.
Miladi-Moaataz had an encounter that ended with an instructive ending. As mentioned earlier Munenga-Rakotomaharo had a similar ending. This was a game to watch because white had more space the entire game before overextending her position. Suddenly, she ended up two pawns down and the Egyptian converted the win comfortably. Ending with a- and h- pawns are hard to defend against with any piece because it is hard to contain them both.
There should be some discussion about the inclusion of a rest day for this tournament in the future. Some of the games in round six were not competitive. The original schedule had a free day for Saturday, but apparently the change in venue required a change in the schedule. It’s unfortunate because this tournament will be very close in the end. The open section will be especially tense the last three rounds.
There are still many rounds remaining and there are some interesting matchups for the next round…
WIM Mezioud Amina (Algeria) – WGM Wafa Shrook (Egypt)
WIM Moaataz Ayah (Egypt) – WIM Latreche Sabrina (Algeria)
Ofowino Toritsemuwa (Nigeria) – WIM Nassr Lina (Algeria)
WIM Elansary Eman (Egypt) – WFM Miladi Amen (Tunisia)
WFM Ravelomanana Sabine (Madagascar) – WFM Mwango Lorita (Zambia)
Chess-Results: (Open, Women)
Regulations: https://www.fide.com/
Adly storms into the lead…
Rakotomaharo upsets Bellahcene, moves in joint 2nd with Amin…
Shrook held, Latreche closes gap
OPEN
There is no odds-on favorite to win the 2019 edition of the African Individual Championship. The story of the day has to be the young IM from Madagascar Fy Rakotomaharo who stands as one of two undefeated players in the field. In his game today against Bilel Bellahcene, they entered a theoretical Queen’s Gambit line that has been tested thoroughly at the elite level.
This game was a tense battle even following Reshevsky-Ragozin, 1937 for 13 moves. That game was drawn. This game was also level after twenty moves, and almost symmetrical. Then the fight began. Bellahcene uncorked the shot 30…Nxe4 which looks good, but misses a detail after 31.Nxc4 Nxf2 32.Qd6!
After that white was slightly on top. Black’s pawn structure was in shambles and ripe for the picking. However, in severe time pressure Bellahcene played 38…Nd5?? with one minute on the clock and one move to get another 30 minutes. It was not to be. After 39.Nxd5 exd5 white has 40.Rxd4! when the white pawns will promote. Very intense!
Ahmed Adly had won his second game since losing to top-seed Bassem Amin. He stands on 6/7. Incidentally, Amin was held today by Essam El-Gindy who started slow with 1/3, but now is on a run of 3.5/4. Perhaps his beautiful African shirts are the reasons for his rejuvenation! He split the point rather quickly today in a theoretical Sicilian Rossolimo, most of which had been played before! After 18 moves, they shook hands, and it amounted to a rest day for both players.
Adham Fawzy was hoping for a better showing against Ahmed Adly today, but he was outplayed once again. This game was another Sicilian which left theory fairly early and while the game was dynamically balanced, black had more activity. Adly kept probing and white’s position became a bit disjointed defending so many weaknesses.
Then came 42…Rxb2! and white had no choice but to donate the queen to avoid 43…Rdd2 and being squeezed. After getting three pieces for the queen, white had problems with coordination due to the passed pawns and exposed king. This makes it easier for the fleet-footed queen to pick off material. Ultimately, Adly’s pawns were steamrolling up the board and Fawzy resigned.
Hicham Hamdouchi is a Moroccan and African legend. If he never played another game, his legacy is safe. He may still have a few wins in him, but today would not be that day. In his game against Adlane Arab, he played an ambitious opening with 6…f6 7.Bh4 g5 8. Bg3.
After ten moves, his king had no shelter to speak of. Arab exploited this by sacrificing a pawn to expose the king even more. The Moroccan tried to simplify the position to reduce pressure on his king, but then fell into a petite combinaison losing immediately. Arab seems certain to get a GM norm.
GM Kenny Solomon in a pitched battle with IM Mahfoud Oussedik
South Africa’s Kenny Solomon, who is based in Italy, is the only other player with an undefeated mark after seven rounds. Employing the Old Indian Defense, the game was a strategic struggle before Mahfoud Oussedik sacrificed a critical pawn for no apparent compensation. The South African plowed in and got his first win since the opening round.
In other action, Zoubaier Amdouni continues his solid result with a win over Nigeria’s Oladapu Adu. With a 2400 performance, he is the leading scorer for the host Tunisians losing only to Bellahcene. Zambia’s Andrew Kayonde and Zimbabwe’s Rodwell Makoto have climbed back to the upper half of the table.
The Nigerians have fallen off the pace after hopes to make an impression in the tournament. Femi Balogun is the leading scorer on +1 while Adu and Daniel Anwuli are both at 50%. We haven’t heard much from the Libyan player Abobker Mohamed Elarabi, but he has put together a solid tournament losing only to Egyptians Adly and El-Gindy.
Youngest player Tary Bongo (Gabon) vs. Ausumana Kamara (Sierra Leone)
GM Adly Ahmed (Egypt) – IM Rakotomaharo Fy Antenaina (Madagascar)
IM Arab Adlane (Algeria) – GM Amin Bassem (Egypt)
GM Solomon Kenny (South Africa) – GM Bellahcene Bilel (Algeria)
GM El Gindy Essam (Egypt) – IM Kayonde Andrew (Zambia)
IM Makoto Rodwell (Zimbabwe) – FM Amdouni Zoubaier (Tunisia)
Anticipation of the start of the 7th round!
Beautiful African flags adorn the playing hall
All Photos by Tunisian Chess Federation
Shrook Wafa was looking for a clean sheet in this tournament, but her run was stopped as Amina Mezioud held her despite a two-pawn deficit. As good as Wafa has been in this tournament, she is only one point ahead of the field as Letreche kept within arm’s distance with a convincing win against Ayah Moaataz.
The question now seems to be the order of the medals as there are three players (Amina Mezioud, Eman Elansary and Lina Nassr) with 4.5/7 competing for the silver and bronze medals. There are also five players on +1 who still have a reasonable chance for the bronze.
WGM Wafa Shrook (Egypt) – WIM Nassr Lina (Algeria)
WIM Latreche Sabrina (Algeria) – WIM Elansary Eman (Egypt)
WFM Ravelomanana Sabine (Madagascar) – WIM Mezioud Amina
WIM February Jesse Nikki (South Africa) – WIM Moaataz Ayah
WFM Mwango Lorita (Zambia) – WFM Marzouk Amira (Tunisia)
Chess-Results: (Open, Women)
Regulations: https://www.fide.com/
https://schoolforchess.com/index.php/mobacher
(Hammamet, Tunisia)
Video by Ahmed Adly (Facebook Live)
Near Perfect report !!
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