Egypt was golden… Zambia shined. In a show that Zambia is starting to produce an impressive pipeline of talent, they took the silver and bronze in the open section and the 3-4-5 spots in the girls' section. Epah Tempo, 12, is the current Zambian women's champion and placed fourth after Yvonne Saina, 17. Host Botswana did not fare badly either as Ontiretse Sabure took the silver medal following her older sister's triumph at the African Individuals. Tuduetso Sabure won the women's continental title and earned the Women's Grandmaster title. Thus, the family gets to celebrate a second time.

11-year old WIM Mona Khaled of Egypt and IM Bassem Amin dominated play as both scored to 8½-½. Egypt  is rising as a chess nation with a youth movement led by GM Ahmed Adly and followed by Amin and Khaled. Adly won the Junior title in 2001 before becoming the country's first Grandmaster and recently won the African Individuals to qualify for the World Cup. There are currently four Grandmasters in Africa with two from Tunisia, one from Morocco and one from Egypt. Khaled earns the Women's Grandmaster title and thus becomes the first Egyptian to do so. Following are the final results:

African Juniors (Boy's)
African Juniors (Girl's)

Related Stories

2005 African Jrs.: Egypt golden… Zambia shines! (20 December 2005)
2005 African Jrs.: Bassem, Khaled clinch victories! (19 December 2005)
2005  African Jrs.: Egyptians on top! (18 December 2005)
2005 African Jrs.: Top Juniors in Botswana! (10 December 2005)
2005 African Junior Chess Championships (16 November 2005)

Posted by The Chess Drum: 25 December 2005