2020 Africa 4.2 Chess Subzonal (Freetown, Sierra Leone)

While many organizers have canceled tournaments worldwide, the Africa 4.2 Zone is holding the subzonal tournament in Freetown, Sierra Leone at Hotel Barmoi. According to the Facebook post, “All the measures against COVID-19, are taken for the tournament to be safe.” There are available bottles of hand sanitizer, but it is not clear what other measures have been put in place as a safeguard against infection.

There are 30 players from Nigeria, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Senegal and host Sierra Leone competing. The top seed is Olanrewaju Ajibola of Nigeria. After five rounds, Ajibola and IM Oladapo Adu are sitting atop the field. Liberia’s James Tondo is 3rd on 4/5 along with FM Simplice DeDondo and Yoboue Manan, both of the Ivory Coast. The tournament began March 15th and will end on March 21st.

This is the first subzonal since the reorganization of the African zones from June 1st, 2019. Continental President Lewis Ncube had recently announced that Zone 4.5 (Lesotho) has postponed their tournament due to threats of the coronavirus. Let us hope that the players and all involved in Sierra Leone remain healthy throughout the event.

Chess Results: http://chess-results.com/tnr525324.aspx