2015 South African Open Chess Festival

The 2015 South African Open Chess Festival incorporates the SA Schools Individual Chess Championship and SA Open Chess Championship
SA Open Chess Championship runs from Fri 03 July to Sat 11 July 2015
(entire day over weekends and evenings during week days)
SA Schools Individual Chess Championship runs from Mon 06 July to Thu 09 July 2015
(mornings and afternoons)
SA Schools Individual Chess Championship players may choose to participate additionally in the SA Open.
For more details, click this link. Click on the image for a larger view.

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Tromso Chess Round 5

Norwegian camera teams may have been swarming around Magnus Carlsen before his meeting with world number two Levon Aronian, but the serious chess spectators had eyes firmly fixed on the start of Kramnik-Topalov, where the feud that began in their acrimonious 2006 world title match has resulted in permanently frosty relations.

by GM Jonathan Tisdall

Some of the games played today round 5. On this link you can follow the live games or play through games already played in previous rounds.

Tromso round 5: Topalov vs Kramnik

Round 5: Kramnik vs Topalov 1-0

Round 5: Ivan Cheparinov vs Peter Svidler 1/2-1/2
Round 5: Aronian vs Carlsen 1/2-1/2

Round 5: Barileng Gaealafshwe vs Kenny Solomon 0-1
On this youtube.com/watch?v=-xABHJdf31o link you can see Kenny as South Africa’s Chess Grandmaster and it’s strange that Fide still has him as an IM on his profile here: ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=14300192 Melissa Greeff is South Africa’s first Women Chess Grandmaster.

Chess art at Tromso

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SA Open

Wang (New Zealand)- round 1

Van der Nat (SA) – round 3

Simutowe – (Zambia) – the winner of the SA Open 2009 – round 5

Mabusela(SA) – round 6

Masango(Zimbabwe) – round 6

Makoto (Zimbabwe)- round 7

These are some of the participants in the SA Open 2009. For more information click this link final results and games . Some of the players played their games online from Melbourne, Australia. Read all about it on the given link. The link will open in a new window.
Images: Sarah at Chesscube

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SA Open 2009

Images: SAOpen2009.com

It’s time for the South African Open 2009. It’s also time for you to enter this tournament, follow all the links which will open in a new window.

Click here for the Official site of Chess South Africa – Chessa – and click here to enter the SA Open 2009 that takes place in Cape Town from the 3-11th July 2009. Now is the chance to grab this opportunity to play chess and to see the country the same time! The venue is Wynberg Boys High School in Cape Town. Click here for the venue-details.
Chess Cube is a South African chess site, another site where you can play chess online. I’m quite sure you will be impressed with the interface of Chess Cube.

Chessa chess calendar. Follow this link for all details of  chess tournaments in South Africa throughout the year.

Top 40 Chess players in South Africa, Anzel Solomons (F) is in position 41 with a rating of 2043
On this link you can see the complete list of the top 100 chess players in South Africa as by 28th April 2009.

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South African Junior players: Turkey

Daleen, Pratish and Corno practicing chess on the rooftop of the hotel.

I do hope you enjoy this report from Corno and the few pictures…all from the Official site : Chessa. I do hope to update this post soon with more info on the South Africans taking part in the World Junior Chess Championships in Turkey, as well as the World Junior Girls Chess Championships the same time. See my post about the World Junior Chess Championships for more results on the two Saffas with other results too.

Results : Round 8

 29  ANTON Sarah 1681 AUS 2½ 0 – 1 2 WFM WIID Daleen 1931 RSA
45  RAMSURRUP Pratish 1809 RSA 2½ 0 – 1 2½  OLIVER Gareth 2196 AUS

Pairings and results: Round 9 : 11th Aug 15:00

49 FM GROVER Sahaj 2306 IND 2½  2½  RAMSURRUP Pratish 1809 RSA-1-0

27 WFM WIID Daleen 1931 RSA 3  3  BOYARCHENKO Marie 1895 LUX –1-0

Pratish in round 9 Image: Official site

Pairings and results: round 10 August 12:15:00

26 WFM WIID Daleen 1931 RSA 4  vs 3½ WFM BERKE Ana 2100 CRO-1-0
52  RAMSURRUP Pratish 1809 RSA 2½ vs  2½  OZDOVER Mustafa Berkay 1768 TUR-0-1

Pairings and results: round 11 – 13th Aug 15:00

17 WIM DAULYTE Deimante 2288LTU 5 vs 5 WFM WIID Daleen 1931RSA-0-1
48  AYDOGDU Ataman 2050TUR 3½ vs 3½  RAMSURRUP Pratish 1809RSA-1-0
25  HEGARTY Sarah 1966ENG 4½ vs 4  IKONOMOPOULOU Maria 2074GRE-1-0

Pratish in round 11

Pairings and results – round 12: 14th Aug 15:00

18 WIM IVAKHINOVA Inna 2248 RUS 5½vs5½  HEGARTY Sarah 1966 ENG-1-0
22 WFM WIID Daleen 1931 RSA 5vs5 WFM LEKS Hanna 2198 POL-1-0
50  RAMSURRUP Pratish 1809 RSA 3½vs4  ULUDOGAN Lutfullah 0 TUR-1-0

Pairings and results: Round 13: 15th Aug 10:00..the final round

17 WIM DAULETOVA Gulmira 2267 KAZ 6vs6 WFM WIID Daleen 1931 RSA 1 – 0
23  HEGARTY Sarah 1966 ENG 5½vs5½ WFM DAVLETBAYEVA Madina 2155 KAZ 1 – 0
46  PLENCA Julijan 2295 CRO 4½vs4½  RAMSURRUP Pratish 1809 RSA 1 – 0

We left South Africa proudly on the 31st July 2008 filled with enthusiasm. The flight was lovely and our night at Istanbul was just as good. We did a lot of sight-seeing in Istanbul as we knew we were in for a hard time in Gaziantep as this tournament is regarded as the hardest junior chess championship in the world. We arrived in Gaziantep, which has a population of 1, 25 million and average temperature of 40 ° in summer. From the airport we left for our hotel, the Ugur Plaza Hotel, which is a very nice 5 star hotel. The tournament is very strong as there are more than 10 Grandmasters and over 20 International masters playing. Turkey is growing rapidly in chess and they have over 2 million youngsters taking chess courses in schools. Here are some pictures of Turkey.

Pratish enjoying an ice-cream on Istanbul square.

The South African team with Hou Yifan.

Round 1:

South Africa had a difficult start with Daleen playing Padmini Rout from India with a rating of 2257 and Pratish playing Ashwin Jayaram from India with a rating of 2436. Daleen was on the backfoot with the black pieces. Pratish played a very nice game with some interesting ideas and held his opponent for a long time but got outplayed in the endgame. Here follows his game:

(1) Ramsurrup,Pratish (1809) – Ashwin,Jayaram (2436) [B90]
World Juniors (1.1), 03.08.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Qf3 g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.Be3 Bd7 9.g4 Nc6 10.0-0-0 0-0 11.Kb1 Rc8 12.Qg3 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 e5 14.Ba7 Qc7 15.Qe3 b5 16.Qb6 b4 17.g5 Ne8 18.Qxc7 Rxc7 19.Bb6 bxc3 20.Bxc7 Nxc7 21.Rxd6 Be6 22.Rc6 Nb5 23.Bxb5 axb5 24.Rxc3 Rd8 25.Rd3 Rxd3 26.cxd3 Bf8 27.h4 Bc5 28.Rh2 h5 29.Kc2 Kf8 30.b3 b4 31.Kd2 Bg4 32.Rg2 f6 33.gxf6 Kf7 34.Ke1 Kxf6 35.f3 Bxf3 36.Rc2 Bd4 37.Rc6+ Kg7 38.Ra6 Bg2 39.Rc6 Kf7 40.Rc7+ Kf6 41.Rc6+ Kg7 42.Rc7+ Kh6 43.Rc6 Bh3 44.Ke2 Bd7 45.Rc7 Bg4+ 46.Kf1 Bh3+ 47.Ke2 g5 48.Rc6+ Kg7 49.hxg5 h4 50.Rh6 Bg4+ 51.Kf1 h3 52.Rh4 Bc8 53.Rh6 Bd7 54.Ra6 h2 55.Kg2 Bg1 56.d4 Bh3+ 0-1

Round 2:

South Africa got their first point through Daleen Wiid. She convincingly won her game against Milian Salatic.
Pratish Ramsurrup got outplayed in the opening and lost against Vitaly Neimer of Israel with a rating of 2316.
The top seed Rauf Mamadov also lost in round 2 and was a big upset for the tournament. He is a Grandmaster from Azerbaijan with a rating of 2627. Although with a 13 round tournament there is still lots to play for.

Round 3:

Unfortunately both the South Africans lost and had problems with their openings. On this top level you cannot make one mistake and a lot of opening knowledge is required.
One of the tournament favorites’ Hou Yifan the current women’s World Champion is playing in the open section. She is seed number 16 with a rating of 2554 a Women Grandmaster from China. It was an honor to meet her.

 

Round 4:
Pratish got his first win to open his account we hope he will get much more wins and gain much more experience from this tournament. Daleen unfortunately lost to an experiences player from Norway. She played an interesting game and learnt a lot from it especially how to play this specific opening with the different ideas and structures. In this round the top seed Rauf Mamedov again lost. He is only on 2 out of 4 so as we can see this is a very strong tournament. So the South Africans must just be strong and gain a lot of experience from this tournament. Hou Yifan played a very nice game and she has a score of 3,5 out of 4 in the open section. I will publish her game tomorrow.

Coaches Report
Turkey 2008
Corno Klaver

Other Chess news: Congratulations to our 2 top players and coaches Daniel Cawdery and Monique Sischy who will represent South Africa at the Olympiad in Dresden, Germany in November. We are proud of you.

Update from Corno on the South African players in Turkey!

Round 5:
Here is Hou Yifan’s game from yesterday. A very attacking, aggressive game to claim the win.
(4) Hou,Yifan (2557) – Arun,Prasad (2492) [B53]
World Juniors Gaziantep Turkey
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3 h6 8.Be3 e5 9.Qc4 Nf6 10.0-0-0 Qc8 11.Qd3 a6 12.Nh4 b5 13.f4 b4 14.fxe5 dxe5 15.Nd5 Bb5 16.Qd2 Qc6 17.Nf3 Nd7 18.Nxb4 Qc4 19.Nd5 Qxa2 20.Nc7+ Kd8 21.Qc3 Qa1+ 22.Kd2 Qa4 23.Nd5 Rc8 24.Bb6+ Nxb6 25.Nxb6 1-0
Daleen wasn’t feeling well today and lost due to lack of concentration. Many of the players are getting ill and this tournament isn’t just a test of playing strength but also of endurance and stamina.
Pratish played a good game against a 2218 but lost by choosing the wrong attacking plan. I thought he missed a few opportunities to win the game.
(5) Vavric,Pavel–2218 –..Rampsurrup,Pratish –1809– [B50]
World Juniors Gaziantep Turkey
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 Nc6 5.d3 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.0-0 e6 8.Nbd2 Be7 9.Nc4 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.g4 Bg6 12.Nfe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 0-0 14.c4 Nb4 15.Qb3 Bd6 16.Nxg6 fxg6 17.Be3 Rf7 18.d4 cxd4 19.Bxd4 Nc6 20.Be3 Qh4 21.c5 Bc7 22.Kg2 Raf8 23.Rad1 Kh8 24.Rd2 Ne5 25.f4 Nc6 26.Qxb7 Na5 27.Qe4 g5 28.Rf3 gxf4 29.Bf2 Qf6 30.b4 Nc6 31.Qxc6 e5 32.Qxf6 gxf6 33.Bd3 Rd7 34.Re2 Rfd8 35.Bf5 Rg7 36.Rd3 Rb8 37.a3 a5 38.Be1 h5 39.Kf3 hxg4+ 40.hxg4 axb4 41.axb4 Kg8 42.Red2 1-0

Round 6:
Pratish scored his second win of the tournament by outplaying his Turkish opponent. Daleen’s condition worsened and she withdrew from this game to rest and hopefully get better. Here is a rating of the tournament so far:
Rated things: Rating out of 5 with 5 the best:
Flight 4
Hotel 5
Food 3,5
Playing venue 2
Player interaction 4
Round 7:
Daleen came back with a vengeance and played a nice combination to go two pawns up in the endgame. Well done Daleen.
(6) Wiid,Daleen – Dai,Irmak [C24]
World Juniors Gaziantep Turkey
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0-0 Bc5 7.Re1 f6 8.h3 Nde7 9.Nc3 Bf5 10.a3 Qd7 11.Ne4 Bb6 12.Ng3 0-0-0 13.b4 a6 14.Rb1 Na7 15.a4 c6 16.Qe2 Be6 17.Be3 Bxe3 18.Qxe3 Kb8 19.Nxe5 Qc7 20.Bxe6 Qxe5 21.Qxe5+ fxe5 22.Rxe5 1-0
Pratish also played a very good game. The game preparation went perfect and he gained a useful advantage. He was a pawn up and missed lots of winning chances, but he couldn’t convert it to a win in the endgame and drew the game.
(7) Sousa,Ricardo (2133) – Rampsurrup,Pratish (1809) [A08]
World Juniors Gaziantep Turkey
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.0-0 e5 5.d3 f6 6.Nbd2 Be6 7.e4 Nge7 8.c3 Qd7 9.a3 d4 10.c4 g5 11.Rb1 Ng6 12.Qa4 a5 13.Rd1 h5 14.Nf1 h4 15.Rd2 hxg3 16.fxg3 Bh3 17.b4 cxb4 18.Rdb2 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Ra6 20.Bd2 Bd6 21.axb4 Nxb4 22.Qxd7+ Kxd7 23.Ne1 b6 24.Kf3 Ne7 25.Kg4 Raa8 26.Bxb4 Bxb4 27.Nc2 Bc5 28.h3 Nc6 29.Nd2 Nb4 30.Nxb4 axb4 31.Nb3 Ke6 32.Rf1 Ra7 33.Rff2 Rha8 34.Rh2 Bd6 35.Rhf2 Ra3 36.Rfc2 Rc8 37.Rb1 Rc7 38.Rbb2 Ra8 39.Rb1 Bc5 40.Rbb2 Bd6 41.Rb1 Be7 42.Rf1 Rca7 43.Rff2 Ra3 44.Rb2 Rc8 45.Rfc2 Rc7 46.Rb1 1/2-1/2
Tomorrow is a rest day and we going to do some sight seeing. We are going to visit an old castle and some museums.
Round 8 to follow and it’s a tri-nations match up today. Both the South Africans are playing Aussies. Make us proud bokke!!!

Coaches Report
Turkey 2008
Corno Klaver

Round 8:
Daleen Wiid won comfortably after the opening with a kingside attack. Pratish Rampsurrup had a drawn endgame but missed the draw in time trouble in the end.     South Africa 1 – Australia 1. Here is a picture of the mosaïek we saw in the museum on the rest day.

Round 9:
Pratish had a tough opponent in round 9. He played Fide Master Sahaj Grover from India with a rating 2306. It was a very complicated Najdorf position where Pratish had a queen for 3 pieces. I think he misplayed the position and had a chance to have a better position as black. Here is the position:

Pratish played, 18. …Rac8 which I think is to slow. He should either play 18. … f6 immediately or even better 18. … b4 follow by 19. Ne4 f6! This will give him an advantage. It is still complicated to play but the dangerous e7 pawn will fall and Pratish can start to organize his pieces.
Daleen swapped of queens early and outplayed her opponent in the endgame.

Round 10:
Daleen played a spectacular game to win her 4th game in a row. She is on fire. Here was the position she reached and made a nice sacrifice and finished her opponent off.

Daleen played 20. Nxh7! exd4 21.Bg5 Be7 22.Rfe1!

Round 11:
Daleen now faces her toughest challenge of the tournament playing WIM Deimante Daulyte from Lithuania with a rating of 2288. Good luck Daleen, mate it 5 in a row!

Coaches Report
Turkey 2008
Corno Klaver

 

Free day …chess junior players on their trip in Turkey…I can see Corno and Pratish…but wonder where is Daleen…Corno?

Follow this link for more about the World Junior CC in Turkey

https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/world-junior-chess-championships-2008/

Some of the participants of the SA Juniors Closed in March 2008

Some of the SA junior players…

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South Africa Women’s Open Chess Championship 2008

GM Dimitri Reinderman in SA…image: www.chessa.co.za the Official site.

Well done to Marlene Roets who was the only player to draw against special guest Grand Master, Dimitri Reinderman, in the simultaneous event, where he participated against 25 women.

EZET ROOS: SA Women’s Open Chess Champion 2008

Source: www.gjca.co.za

 Other Chess news: Congratulations to our 2 top players and coaches Daniel Cawdery and Monique Sischy who will represent South Africa at the Olympiad in Dresden, Germany in November. We are proud of you.

Image: gjca.co.za

SA Women’s Open 2008

SA Women’s Open : Pairings round 4…source: Gauteng Junior Chess Association

This is only the pairings for the first 10 boards, see  http://www.gjca.co.za for more pairings

SA Women’s Open 2008: Final results after round 5

Small message to Chessa: Please, this is an Official Tournament! It could make my task a lot easier if this was published on your Official site, which is Chessa! Gauteng Juniors is not SA’s official site!

As soon as I have more news… I will update this post! hmmm…I could update it at last! with hours of searching and sniffing….and at last found info on a non-official site…Gauteng Juniors…thank you! Gauteng Juniors for publishing the results and the pairings…I do hope Chessa take notice of my message to them! Meanwhile, if you have zillions to spend, then Cresta is for you…a shopping centre in Randburg..near Jo’burg..hop off your flight and hop into this shopping centre…

Cresta 

Results of the SA Open Chess Championships- Section A : July 2008

See more results here: http://www.chessa.co.za/SAOpen2008.html

South Africa’s top 10 female chess players…19/8/2008

The number after the date of birth, is the number of games played…

1 SOLOMONS, A (ANZEL) 1978/01/06 2025  38
2 GREEFF, M (MELISSA) 1994/04/15 1947   27
3 SISCHY, MS (MONIQUE) 1987/12/04 1872 0
4 WIID, D (DALEEN) 1991/11/06  1861  50
5 PISTORIUS, R (RIANI) 1985/03/07  1845  12
6 DE JAGER, C (CARMEN) 1989/01/17  1843  28
7 ELLAPPEN, J (JENINE) 1986/03/25  1821  0
8 FRICK, D (DENISE) 1980/11/26  1812  19
9 ROOS, E (EZET) 1991/03/22  1783  29
10 DE WAAL, I (INGRID) 1990/07/17  1749  34

See the rest of the top 100 female players on this link:

http://www.chessa.co.za/TopWoman.html

Other chess news: from Chessa-site: Congratulations to D Solomons, A Goosen, D Van den Heever, J Ophoff, H.R Steel and D Cawdery who have been awarded their CM Titles

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