Robert Gwaze resurfaces, wins Namibia Open
IM Robert Gwaze is always in conversations about Africa’s brightest moments in history. Since his 2002 gold medal at the Bled Olympiad, he has written his memoirs, Life and Games of Robert Gwaze. There had always been the thought that Gwaze was poised to earn his Grandmaster title. However, his competitive play has been inconsistent as he bounced between stints in Malaysia, Singapore, and England before returning to Zimbabwe.
Photo by Jerry Bibuld
Photo by Infinity Focus Creations
Winning both the 1998 African Juniors and the 2007 African Individual, he has always been a man of fine talent. His sparkling 9/9 score (2690 TPR) in Bled, Slovenia, is still considered one of the most remarkable feats in Olympiad history. With two GM norms, he mentions travel financing as a major impediment to securing the third and final GM norm.
Most recently, Kenya Chess Masala reported that Gwaze played in the Namibia Open. It’s always with great interest when the former continental champion and gold medallist player. He was the top seed and outclassed the field with a clean sheet scoring 7/7. IM David Silva of Angola was registered but did not arrive for the tournament.
Zambia’s Timothy Kabwe was second with 5.5/7, and the 2024 Nambian champion Heskiel Ndahangwapo had 5/7. In the women’s section, Angolan Olympian Esperanca Caxita won by dominating 6.5/7. The venue was the Windhoek Golf Course, Namibia, with 108 players in four Sections: Open (40 players), Women (16 players), Veteran (4 players), and Junior boys and girls (48 players).
Here is one of Gwaze’s win against the runner-up.
Also see Kenya Chess Masala report by Kim Bhari