African chess has come a long way in the past decade. Several players are emerging and the chess world (including elite players) is beginning taking notice. There was a time when one only thought of Egypt, Algeria and Morocco as stewards of chess in Africa. In this tournament, African nations from Cairo to Cape Coast are sitting down at the 64-square board and fighting to the death… that of the opponent!

Gwaze and Simutowe surge ahead!

One only has to look at the path of destruction that Zimbabwe's IM Robert Gwaze has left in this Olympiad and the trails blazed by Zambia's IM Amon Simutowe to see that an new era has come. Two other promising players at this Olympiad include Zambia's NM Stanley Chumfwa and Uganda's Steven Kawuma. In the Caribbean region, Barbados' teenage sensation and Olympian  Askari Elson has shown great promise.

In today's round, attention focused on whether Russia would be able to hold their two-point lead. In some quarters, an increasing awareness is moving towards Gwaze's nine-game winning streak. In Almannai-Gwaze (see game), Black's pieces swarmed White's camp after the dubious 9.e6?! The finish was beautiful and could remind one of Kudrin-Tate, 2001. It is not only the number of games that Gwaze has won… it is the way he is winning his games that is raising attention.

Russia holds on to two-point lead with two rounds remaining!

With two rounds left, Russia used one of the nine board order combinations in Khalifman, Morozevich, Svidler, and Rublevsky! The result… another win. In Morozevich-Cvitan, the Croatian played a strange Qa5-h5 maneuver out of a 6.Bc4 Najdorf. The idea doesn't appear original, but it turned out so bad that it's hard to believe it's playable.

Morozevich's slowly built a kingside attack and forced his way through Black's kingside with 24.f5! and 25. h4! The ending result was gruesome. GM Sergei Rublevsky got a quick win, but his teammate GM Peter Svidler got his King stuck in the center and couldn't stop the White Queen from roaming and wreaking havoc.  Nevertheless, Russia was never in danger of losing and took a 2½-1½ decision.

Other interesting matches GM Judit Polgar won again to tip the balance of the scales in Hungary's favor over Georgia… a country known for the strength of their women chess players. In fact, the Georgian women are currently tied for 1st with China. While the Chinese women continue to plow through the field, the Chinese men  beat England… the decisive game being Zhang Zhong's 95-move win over GM Jonathan Speelman. Quite an interesting game! Armenia shocked the Ukraine 3-1 and perhaps put them out of medal contention.  The USA got back on the winning track by beating Australia. After being spanked by Armenia, Cuba bounced back and humbled Luxembourg.

Oh Mother Africa!

As mentioned, Simutowe won and in the process, put on an impressive display of power with his Nimzo-Indian. Black applied pressure throughout and later forced White to donate an exchange to avoid rook penetration. Simutowe's technique finished the job. What is so interesting about Simutowe's play is his deep understanding of positional nuances. He certainly cannot be considered a positional player, but his chess vision is very advanced.

NM Grace Nsubuga of Uganda has gone winless in the last five rounds after a fast start. This round, he missed scoring the full point against Barbados' Ricardo Szmetan. In the diagrammed position, he tried a final tactical trick two pawns up, but Szmetan defended well. Grace was consoled to know that his teammates did well enough to win the match. Ugandan Shadrack Kantinti got a rare  gift from FM Philip Corbin when the "Bajan" overlooked a two-move tactic snaring the lady. The rest of the games were drawn giving Uganda the win.

In the above position, Nsubuga played 81…Bf5+?! (81...g3) forgetting about the fork after queening the pawn. Szmetan was able to draw.

Other scores of note: Albania 2-2 Angola;  Botswana 1-3 New Zealand;  South Africa 2½-1½ Tunisia;  Trinidad 2½-1½ Japan;  Uganda 2½-1½ Barbados;  Libya 2½-1½ Suriname;  Ethiopia 3½-½ Malta;  Jamaica 3-1 Aruba;  Zimbabwe 3½-½ Bahrain; Netherland Antilles 3½-½ Brunei; Namibia 2-2 Mauritius;     Nigeria 2-2 Dominican Republic;   British Virgin Islands 2½-1½ Bermuda.