FM Farai Mandizha of Zimbabwe shined in his American debut at the 2006 Foxwoods Open. Mandizha, one of Africa's top juniors, stunned the field by toppling top-seed GM Hikaru Nakamura enroute to a sparkling 5½-3½ score, a 2500 performance rating and an IM norm. He then held Columbian veteran, GM Alonso Zapata before losing to FM Bryan Smith in the third round. Mandizha's result has been welcome result as another African star is risingon the horizon. The young Zimbabwean is picking up where compatriot IM Robert Gwaze left off and hopefully this result is the beginning of more things to come!

Round 1: beat GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
Round 2: drew  GM Alonso Zapata (Columbia)
Round 3: lost  FM Bryan Smith (USA)
Round 4: beat WFM Hana Itkis (USA)
Round 5: beat FM Alan Stein (USA)
Round 6: lost GM Joe Gallagher (Switzerland)
Round 7: lost GM Dashz Sharavdorj (Mongolia)
Round 8: beat FM Boris Reichstein (USA)
Round 9: beat IM Ali Frhat (Egypt)

Score:  5½-3½
Performance: 2553 (IM norm confirmed!)

Foxwoods Open (official site)

Posted by The Chess Drum: 19 April 2006