Chess and Charlize

Charlize in 2019 at the South African Closed Chess Championship

Charlize in Batumi, Georgia, in 2018

Credit: Reint Dykema and Chess dot com

When there is an opportunity, I do like to blog about chess players from Africa as they don’t get the exposure they should get. Even more so if it is a high profile player and a female! I was quite surprised to find this article about Charlize on Chess.com and was quite excited to know there are more young female players, from South Africa, in this great game! I didn’t copy the complete interview on my blog and you can follow the link to read more about her and to view more other photos of this talented young player.

Quick Bio: Chalize van Zyl age 20

Occupation:                                      Student (BA Media, Communications and Culture)

Rating:                                              1686 (FIDE) / 1801 (CHESSA)

SA rank:                                             9^th (FIDE) / 7^th (CHESSA)

Title:                                                  Woman International Master (WIM)

Number of Olympiads played:           1 (2018)

An interview conducted by WCM beccrajoy

At what age did you start playing chess, and who introduced you to it?

My Dad taught my sister and me when I was about 7 – he tried earlier, but we just weren’t into it. I started playing tournaments at 8, and when I was 9, I went overseas.

What’s your earliest chess memory?

My memory’s not that good, but I remember in one of my first tournaments, the only point I got was against my sister. We had both lost all our games, so we played in the last round. No one was watching us, and we ended up playing with just our kings until someone came and told us it was a draw!

How did you prepare for the South African Closed Chess Championships?

I did a lot of tactics in the days leading up to the closed. I did a bit on the opening, because I wanted to experiment a bit and change my lines, but not much. So, it was mainly hours and hours of tactics, and Puzzle Rush too. I’m addicted to Puzzle Rush – I don’t know if it was really training, but I couldn’t stop playing!

What is the highlight of your chess career?

When I was 13 I won the African Zonals, which is when I won my WIM title. And I broke a record for being the youngest South African to get the title.

Please click HERE to read the complete article.

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South Africa’s Woman Chess Grandmaster!

FIDE has recognised the achievements of Melissa Greeff [15] by indicating that she will be awarded the prestigious title of International Woman Grandmaster.CONGRATULATIONS Melissa!! You do us PROUD!  Baie Geluk, Melissa, ons het hiervoor gewag, ons het eintlik geweet jy’s  reeds ‘n Grandmaster, ons het slegs vir die aankondiging gewag! We already knew you were one… we’ve been waiting for the announcement only!! [news:official site: chessa.co.za]

You can see her Fide profile on this link. The link will open in a new window.

Click on this link this link to see her games during the “First Saturday” tournament in Budapest and on this link to play through her games interactively on chessgames and 365chess. Links will open in a new window.

Melissa – 15 year old student in her school uniform- photo:

herschel.org.za/news/senior-news/165/check-mate

Melissa vs Groetz at the Arctic Chess Challenge

The same time, congratulations to the Springboks! You are still my heroes when it comes to rugby!

The following message from Jennifer Shahade  to Melissa:

Nikita: Send my congrats to WGM Greef! Her family was so hospitable when I was in SA, hope to visit again sometime soon.

[message on her site: jennifershahade.com]

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African Individual Chess Tournament 2009

 

The African Individual Chess Championships are now taking place in Tripoli,  Libya. It started the 21st July and it continues till the 30th July2009.

 WIM Melissa Greeff – RSA

Congratulations to:

Melissa Greeff

For winning the
African Individual Chess Championship 2009
–   Women section
Click on this link,which will open in a new window, to play through some of her games on 365chess and chessgames you can play through more games of Melissa. On this link you can view her games played in Budapest during the First  Saturday tournament early July 2009 or you can follow the link of First Saturday to play through her games interactively.

GM Bassem Amin from Egypt…winner of the men’s section

Image: Chessbase
Final Results/Rankings: Women after round 9

1 WIM Greeff Melissa RSA 2038 7
2 WIM Mezioud Amina ALG 2035 7
3 WGM Mona Khaled EGY 2094 6,5
4 WIM Solomons Anzel RSA 1932 6,5
5 WFM Latreche Sabrina ALG 1964 6,5
6 WCM Beddar Karima ALG 1803 5,5
7 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra EGY 1913 4,5
8  Abdulgader Amira LBA  4,5
9  Rahal Mawadda LBA  4
10  Matoussi Amina TUN 1755 4
11  Elansary Eman EGY  3,5
12 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso BOT 1905 3,5
13 WFM Elfelo Khouled LBA  3,5
14  Elgohary Myada EGY 1683 3,5
15  Al Jahani Marwah LBA  2
16  Al Felo Ekhlas LBA 0

 List of players Women
1 Abdulgader Amira 0 LBA
2 Al Felo Ekhlas 0 LBA
3 Al Jahani Marwah 0 LBA
4 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra 1913 EGY
5 WCM Beddar Karima 1803 ALG
6 Elansary Eman 0 EGY
7 WFM Elfelo Khouled 0 LBA
8 Elgohary Myada 1683 EGY
9 WIM Greeff Melissa 2038 RSA
10 WFM Latreche Sabrina 1964 ALG
11 Matoussi Amina 1755 TUN
12 WIM Mezioud Amina 2035 ALG
13 WGM Mona Khaled 2094 EGY
14 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso 1905 BOT
15 Rahal Mawadda 0 LBA
16 WIM Solomons Anzel 1932 RSA

 

Results of Women: African Individual Chess Championships – Round 1

Results- Women: African Individual CC: Round 2 – please click on images for a clear view.

Rank after Round 2 -Women: Top 5 positions

1 WFM Latreche Sabrina ALG 1964
 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra EGY 1913
 WCM Beddar Karima ALG 1803
4 WIM Greeff Melissa RSA 2038
5 WIM Solomons Anzel RSA 1932

Pairings/Results – Women
Round 3 on 2009/07/23 at 15:00
 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra vs  WFM Latreche Sabrina–0-1
 WIM Solomons Anzel vs WCM Beddar Karima– 1-0
 WGM Mona Khaled vs  WIM Greeff Melissa –1-0
 WIM Mezioud Amina  vs  Al Jahani Marwah –1-0
 Elansary Eman vs  Elgohary Myada –1-0
 Rahal Mawadda vs  Abdulgader Amira–1/2
 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso vs  WFM Elfelo Khouled–1/2
 Al Felo Ekhlas vs   Matoussi Amina–0-1

Pairings/Results: Women
Round 4 on 2009/07/24 at 15:00

WFM Latreche Sabrina   vs   WIM Solomons Anzel–0-1
WCM Beddar Karima   vs  WGM Mona Khaled–0-1  
Elansary Eman   vs  WIM Mezioud Amina–0-1 
Abdulgader Amira   vs  WIM Alaa el Din Yosra–0-1  
WIM Greeff Melissa   vs    Rahal Mawadda–1-0  
Elgohary Myada    vs   Matoussi Amina–0-1 
Al Jahani Marwah   vs WFM Mudongo Boikhutso–0-1 
WFM Elfelo Khouled  vs   Al Felo Ekhlas–1-0 

Rank after Round 3

1 WFM Latreche Sabrina ALG 1964
2 WIM Solomons Anzel RSA 1932
3 WCM Beddar Karima ALG 1803
4 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra EGY 1913
5 WGM Mona Khaled EGY 2094
6  Elansary Eman EGY
7 WIM Mezioud Amina ALG 2035
8 WIM Greeff Melissa RSA 2038
9  Abdulgader Amira LBA
10  Rahal Mawadda LBA
11  Al Jahani Marwah LBA
12  Elgohary Myada EGY 1683
13  Matoussi Amina TUN 1755
14 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso BOT 1905
  WFM Elfelo Khouled LBA
16  Al Felo Ekhlas LBA

Ranking after round 4: South Africans...1.Anzel Solomons and position 6. Melissa Greeff

Pairings/Results: Women
Round 5 on 2009/07/25 at 15:00

WIM Solomons Anzel vs   WIM Alaa el Din Yosra –1-0
WGM Mona Khaled vs   WFM Latreche Sabrina –1/2 
WIM Mezioud Amina vs  WIM Greeff Melissa –0-1
Matoussi Amina  vs WCM Beddar Karima –0-1
Rahal Mawadda  vs  Elansary Eman –1-0
WFM Elfelo Khouled  vs Abdulgader Amira –0-1
WFM Mudongo Boikhutso vs   Elgohary Myada–1-0 
Al Felo Ekhlas vs  Al Jahani Marwah–0-1

Rank after Round 5- Women

1 WIM Solomons Anzel RSA 1932 – 4,5
2 WFM Latreche Sabrina ALG 1964- 3,5
3 WGM Mona Khaled EGY 2094- 3,5
4 WIM Greeff Melissa RSA 2038- 3,5
5 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra EGY 1913-3
6 WCM Beddar Karima ALG 1803-3
7 WIM Mezioud Amina ALG 2035-3
8  Abdulgader Amira LBA -2,5
9  Rahal Mawadda LBA -2,5
10 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso BOT 1905-2,5
11  Elansary Eman EGY -2
12  Al Jahani Marwah LBA -2
13  Matoussi Amina TUN 1755-2
14 WFM Elfelo Khouled LBA -1,5
15  Elgohary Myada EGY 1683-1
16  Al Felo Ekhlas LBA- 0

Pairings/Results: Women
Round 6 on 2009/07/27 at 15:00
 
WGM Mona Khaled  3½ vs 4½ WIM Solomons Anzel (RSA)–1-0
WIM Greeff Melissa  3½(RSA) vs 3½ WFM Latreche Sabrina–1-0
WIM Alaa el Din Yosra  3 vs 3 WIM Mezioud Amina–0-1 
WCM Beddar Karima  3 vs 2½  Abdulgader Amira–1-0
Rahal Mawadda  2½ vs 2½ WFM Mudongo Boikhutso–0-1
Matoussi Amina  2 vs 1½ WFM Elfelo Khouled–0-1
Al Jahani Marwah  2 vs 1  Elgohary Myada–0-1 
Elansary Eman  2 vs 0  Al Felo Ekhlas–1-0

Rank after Round 6 – Top 11 only: Women

1 WIM Solomons Anzel RSA 1932
2 WGM Mona Khaled EGY 2094
3 WIM Greeff Melissa RSA 2038
4 WCM Beddar Karima ALG 1803
5 WIM Mezioud Amina ALG 2035
6 WFM Latreche Sabrina ALG 1964
7 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso BOT 1905
8 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra EGY 1913
9  Elansary Eman EGY
10  Rahal Mawadda LBA
11  Abdulgader Amira LBA

Pairings/Results: Women
Round 7 on 2009/07/28 at 15:00

WIM Mezioud Amina  4 vs 4½ WGM Mona Khaled–1-0
WCM Beddar Karima  4 vs 4½ WIM Greeff Melissa –1/2
WIM Solomons Anzel  4½ vs 3½ WFM Mudongo Boikhutso–1-0 
WFM Latreche Sabrina  3½ vs 2  Matoussi Amina–1-0
WIM Alaa el Din Yosra  3 vs 3  Elansary Eman–1/2  
WFM Elfelo Khouled  2½ vs 2  Al Jahani Marwah–1-0
Elgohary Myada  2 vs 2½  Rahal Mawadda–1/2
Abdulgader Amira  2½  vs 0  Al Felo Ekhlas–1-0

Rank after Round 7: Top 11 only: Women

1 WIM Solomons Anzel RSA 1932 5,5
2 WIM Greeff Melissa RSA 2038 5,0
3 WIM Mezioud Amina ALG 2035 5,0
4 WFM Latreche Sabrina ALG 1964 4,5
5 WGM Mona Khaled EGY 2094 4,5
6 WCM Beddar Karima ALG 1803 4,5
7 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra EGY 1913 3,5
8  Elansary Eman EGY  3,5
9  Abdulgader Amira LBA  3,5
10 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso BOT 1905 3,5
11 WFM Elfelo Khouled LBA  3,5

 Pairings/Results:Women
Round 8 on 2009/07/29 at 15:00

WIM Mezioud Amina  5 vs 5½ WIM Solomons Anzel–1-0
WIM Greeff Melissa  5 vs 3½ WIM Alaa el Din Yosra–1-0 
WFM Latreche Sabrina  4½ vs 4½ WCM Beddar Karima–1-0
Elansary Eman  3½ vs 4½ WGM Mona Khaled–0-1 
Elgohary Myada  2½ vs 3½ WFM Elfelo Khouled–1-0  
WFM Mudongo Boikhutso  3½ vs 2  Matoussi Amina–0-1
 Al Jahani Marwah  2 vs 3½  Abdulgader Amira–0-1  
Al Felo Ekhlas  0 vs 3  Rahal Mawadda–0-1

Pairings/Results – The final round! – Women
Round 9 on 2009/07/30 at 09:00

1 Abdulgader Amira  4½ vs 6 WIM Greeff Melissa–0-1  
2 Rahal Mawadda  4 vs  6 WIM Mezioud Amina–0-1 
3 WGM Mona Khaled  5½ vs 3½ WFM Mudongo Boikhutso–1-0
4 WFM Elfelo Khouled  3½ vs 5½ WFM Latreche Sabrina–0-1  
5 WIM Solomons Anzel  5½ vs 3½  Elgohary Myada–1-0  
6 WCM Beddar Karima  4½ vs 2  Al Jahani Marwah–1-0  
7 Matoussi Amina  3 vs 3½  Elansary Eman–1-0  
8 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra  3½ vs 0  Al Felo Ekhlas–1-0  

Rank after Round 8: Women

1 WIM Greeff Melissa RSA 2038 6
2 WIM Mezioud Amina ALG 2035 6
3 WIM Solomons Anzel RSA 1932 5,5
4 WFM Latreche Sabrina ALG 1964 5,5
5 WGM Mona Khaled EGY 2094 5,5
6 WCM Beddar Karima ALG 1803 4,5
7  Abdulgader Amira LBA  4,5
8  Rahal Mawadda LBA  4
9 WIM Alaa el Din Yosra EGY 1913 3,5
10  Elansary Eman EGY  3,5
11 WFM Mudongo Boikhutso BOT 1905 3,5
12 WFM Elfelo Khouled LBA  3,5
13  Elgohary Myada EGY 1683 3,5
14  Matoussi Amina TUN 1755 3
15  Al Jahani Marwah LBA  2
16  Al Felo Ekhlas LBA 0

 Please click this link for more details/results about the African Individual Chess Championships – Women section.  Update: Results of the men’s section have only emerged today – 24th July -…there are all sorts of “issues” around this tournament.
Read here about it. The link will open in a new window.

For the results of the MEN’s section,  please click the link which will open in a new window.

 Alphabetical list of players: MEN

1 IM Abdel Razik Khaled 2462 EGY
2 IM Abdelnabbi Imed 2452 EGY
3 GM Adly Ahmed 2548 EGY
4  Al-Zayat Ahmed 1969 LBA
5 GM Amin Bassem 2551 EGY
6 IM Arab Adlane 2432 ALG
7 FM Asabri Hussien 2220 LBA
8 GM Belkhodja Slim 2467 TUN
9 FM Chahrani Ibrahim 2280 LBA
10  Degondo Simplice Armel 0 IVC
11 GM El Gindy Essam 2501 EGY
12  El Kamel Adel Mahmoud 2239 TUN
13 IM Ezat Mohamed 2459 EGY
14 IM Frhat Ali 2397 EGY
15  Gator Mosab 0 LBA
16 IM Haddouche Mohamed 2329 ALG
17  Humrana Mostafa 2114 LBA
18 IM Kaabi Mejdi 2313 TUN
19 IM Kobese Watu 2391 RSA
20 FM Njili Kamel 2318 TUN
21  Nyazi Nehad 2237 EGY
22  Oatlhotze Providence 2164 BOT
23  Obiamiwe Paul 2043 NGR
24  Ranaivoharisoa Alain 2083 MAD
25 GM Rizouk Aimen 2506 ALG
26  Salem Ali Maoloud 2131 LBA
27 IM Sarwat Walaa 2390 EGY
28  Shabash Abdullatief Mohamed 2193 LBA
29 GM Simutowe Amon 2481 ZAM
30 IM Solomon Kenny 2351 RSA
31 CM Solomons Deon 2210 RSA
32 CM Van Den Heever Donovan 2254 RSA
33 IM Wageih Kareim 2253 EGY
34 CM Zaibi Amir 2123 TUN

Pairings/Results: Men
Round 4 on 2009/07/24 at 15:00
 
IM Abdelnabbi Imed  2½ ½ – ½ 2½ GM Adly Ahmed 
IM Ezat Mohamed  2½ ½ – ½ 2½ GM El Gindy Essam 
IM Abdel Razik Khaled  2½ 1 – 0 2½ IM Solomon Kenny 
GM Amin Bassem  2 1 – 0 2 IM Kobese Watu 
IM Sarwat Walaa  2 ½ – ½ 2 GM Simutowe Amon 
Humrana Mostafa  2 0 – 1 1½ GM Belkhodja Slim 
GM Rizouk Aimen  1½ 1 – 0 1½ CM Solomons Deon 
CM Van Den Heever Donovan  1½ 0 – 1 1½ FM Njili Kamel 
IM Kaabi Mejdi  1½ 1 – 0 1½ IM Wageih Kareim 
El Kamel Adel Mahmoud  1½ 0 – 1 1 FM Chahrani Ibrahim 
IM Frhat Ali  1 1 – 0 1  Gator Mosab 
FM Asabri Hussien  1 0 – 1 1 CM Zaibi Amir 
Ranaivoharisoa Alain  1 ½ – ½ 1  Oatlhotze Providence
Nyazi Nehad  ½ 1 – 0 ½  Obiamiwe Paul 
Shabash Abdullatief Mohamed  ½ 1 – 0 ½  Al-Zayat Ahmed
Degondo Simplice Armel  ½ 0 – 1 ½  Salem Ali Maoloud 

Pairings/Results:Men
Round 5 on 2009/07/25 at 15:00

GM Adly Ahmed 3 vs 3½ IM Abdel Razik Khaled–1/2
GM El Gindy Essam 3 vs 3 GM Amin Bassem–1/2
IM Abdelnabbi Imed 3 vs 3 IM Ezat Mohamed–1/2
FM Njili Kamel 2½ vs 2½ GM Rizouk Aimen–1/2
GM Simutowe Amon 2½ vs 2½ IM Haddouche Mohamed–1/2
GM Belkhodja Slim 2½ vs 2½ IM Kaabi Mejdi–1-0
IM Arab Adlane 2½ vs 2½ IM Sarwat Walaa–0-1
IM Solomon Kenny 2½ vs 2 IM Frhat Ali–1/2
IM Kobese Watu 2 vs 2 FM Chahrani Ibrahim–1-0
CM Zaibi Amir 2 vs 2 Humrana Mostafa–1-0
CM Solomons Deon 1½ vs 1½ CM Van Den Heever Donovan–0-1
IM Wageih Kareim 1½ vs 1½ Shabash Abdullatief Mohamed–1-0
Oatlhotze Providence 1½ vs 1½ El Kamel Adel Mahmoud–1/2
Salem Ali Maoloud 1½ vs 1½ Nyazi Nehad–0-1
Gator Mosab 1 vs 1½ Ranaivoharisoa Alain–0-1
Al-Zayat Ahmed ½ vs 1 FM Asabri Hussien–1/2
Obiamiwe Paul ½ vs ½ Degondo Simplice Armel–0-1

African Individual -Results round 6: Men – please click on the image for a clearer view.

Rank after Round 5: Men

1 IM Abdel Razik Khaled EGY 2462-4
2 GM El Gindy Essam EGY 2501-3,5
3 IM Abdelnabbi Imed EGY 2452-3,5
4 IM Ezat Mohamed EGY 2459-3,5
5 GM Adly Ahmed EGY 2548-3,5
6 GM Amin Bassem EGY 2551-3,5
7 IM Sarwat Walaa EGY 2390-3,5
8 GM Belkhodja Slim TUN 2467-3,5
9 IM Solomon Kenny RSA 2351-3
10 GM Simutowe Amon ZAM 2481-3
11 IM Kobese Watu RSA 2391-3
12 IM Haddouche Mohamed ALG 2329-3
13 GM Rizouk Aimen ALG 2506-3
14 FM Njili Kamel TUN 2318-3
15 CM Zaibi Amir TUN 2123-3
16 IM Arab Adlane ALG 2432-2,5
17 IM Kaabi Mejdi TUN 2313-2,5
18 IM Wageih Kareim EGY 2253-2,5
19 CM Van Den Heever Donovan RSA 2254-2,5
20 IM Frhat Ali EGY 2397-2,5
21  Ranaivoharisoa Alain MAD 2083-2,5
22  Nyazi Nehad EGY 2237-2,5
23  Humrana Mostafa LBA 2114-2
24 FM Chahrani Ibrahim LBA 2280-2
25  El Kamel Adel Mahmoud TUN 2239-2
26  Oatlhotze Providence BOT 2164-2
27 FM Asabri Hussien LBA 2220-1,5
28 CM Solomons Deon RSA 2210-1,5
29  Salem Ali Maoloud LBA 2131-1,5
30  Shabash Abdullatief Mohamed LBA 2193-1,5
31  Degondo Simplice Armel IVC -1,5
32  Gator Mosab LBA -1
33  Al-Zayat Ahmed LBA 1969-1
34  Obiamiwe Paul NGR 2043-0,5

Ranking  after Round 6 – Top 11 only:Men

1 IM Abdel Razik Khaled 2462 EGY 
2 GM Adly Ahmed 2548 EGY
3 GM Amin Bassem 2551 EGY
4 GM Belkhodja Slim 2467 TUN
5 GM El Gindy Essam 2501 EGY
6 IM Abdelnabbi Imed 2452 EGY
7 IM Ezat Mohamed 2459 EGY 
8 IM Solomon Kenny 2351 RSA
9 GM Simutowe Amon 2481 ZAM
10 IM Sarwat Walaa 2390 EGY
11 IM Kobese Watu 2391 RSA

African Individual: Results round 7 – Men…please click on the image for a clearer view.

Rank after Round 7: Top 11 positions:Men

1  GM Adly Ahmed EGY 2548 5,5
2  GM Amin Bassem EGY 2551 5,5
3  IM Abdel Razik Khaled EGY 2462 4,5
4  GM El Gindy Essam EGY 2501 4,5
5  IM Solomon Kenny RSA 2351 4,5
6  IM Sarwat Walaa EGY 2390 4,5
7  GM Simutowe Amon ZAM 2481 4,5
8  IM Kobese Watu RSA 2391 4,5
9  GM Belkhodja Slim TUN 2467 4,5
10  IM Abdelnabbi Imed EGY 2452 4,0
11  IM Haddouche Mohamed ALG 2329 4,0

African Individual: Results round 8: Men

African Individual CC: Men -Results round 9 – The final round!

Please click on the image for a clearer view!

Rank after Round 8: Men – Top 20

1  GM Amin Bassem EGY 2551 6,5
2  IM Abdel Razik Khaled EGY 2462 5,5
3  GM Adly Ahmed EGY 2548 5,5
4  GM El Gindy Essam EGY 2501 5,5
5  IM Sarwat Walaa EGY 2390 5,5
6  IM Haddouche Mohamed ALG 2329 5
7  GM Rizouk Aimen ALG 2506 5
8  IM Abdelnabbi Imed EGY 2452 4,5
9  IM Ezat Mohamed EGY 2459 4,5
10  IM Solomon Kenny RSA 2351 4,5
11  GM Simutowe Amon ZAM 2481 4,5
12  IM Kobese Watu RSA 2391 4,5
13  GM Belkhodja Slim TUN 2467 4,5
14   El Kamel Adel Mahmoud TUN 2239 4,5
15   Nyazi Nehad EGY 2237 4,5
16  IM Arab Adlane ALG 2432 4
17  CM Zaibi Amir TUN 2123 4
18  IM Kaabi Mejdi TUN 2313 4
19  CM Van Den Heever Donovan RSA 2254 4
20   Ranaivoharisoa Alain MAD 2083 4

Final Results/Ranking: Men – Top 12 positions

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Dresden Games

If you click on the logo, you will get taken to the official site of Dresden and the “Live” image will take you straight to the “live”-games-link. On this link you can play through games played in round 8. Players from the SA team and also GM’s like Boris Gelfand, Magnus Carlsen, Ivan Cheparinov, Alexei Shirov, Topalov, Yelena Dembo, Nigel Short, Peter Leko, etc. The link will open in a new window. You can now play through two games, I will add more soon when I’ve got more time!
Please click HERE to play through the game of Kamsky and Ivanchuck and a few other players in round 11, the final round on chess.com. The link will open in a new window.
http://chessaleeinlondon.blogspot.com/2008/11/dresden-olympiad-2008.html

On this next link you can play through games of round 6. The SA-team games plus games of Kramnik and Ivanchuk. The link will also open in a new window.

http://chessaleeinlondon.blogspot.com/2008/11/south-africa-dresden-and-round-6.html

See more chess graphics and results of the SA-team on this link which will open in a new window.

https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/dresden-chess-olympiad-2008/

GM Eduardo Iturrizaga..Watu Kobese’s opponent in round 9

More games to play through will be added soon, also games of about 15 GM’s. So, keep watching this space!

Statistics of Eduardo

Statistics of Watu

Watu Kobese..image: chessaol

Melissa Greeff Image: chessaol.wordpress.com

Melissa: Statistics…Melissa has a personal score of 6.5 so far at the Olympiad, a score not many other females could equal in this tournament. Well done to Melissa!

Results of the ladies after round 10…you can see Melissa having 7 out of 9…she didn’t play in round 5.

Please click HERE to play through the game of Melissa Greeff in round 9 played on the 22nd November at the Chess Olympiad 2008. Links in this post will all open in new windows.

Please click HERE to play through Watu Kobese’s game played in round 9.

Please click HERE to play through the game of Kenny Solomon played in round 9.

Please click HERE to play through the game of Carmen de Jager in round 9.

Please click HERE to play through the game of Anzel Solomons played in round 9.

Please click HERE to play through the game of Daniel Cawdery played in round 9 vs Jose Sequera Paolini of Venezuela.

Melissa Greeff round 10 move 27

Dresden round 10 Melissa Greeff  end position…1/2

Round 10 move list: Melissa Greeff, see the last move with the chess graphics

Dresden round 10: Results of the ladies – SA vs Scotland

Image: chessaol.wordpress.com

Kenny’s game – 1/2

Dresden round 10: Results of the men’s team

Dresden round 11: Results of the SA Ladies against UAE…3-1..well done ladies!

SA ladies on the left..image: chessaol.wordpress.com

Dresden round 11 Results of the SA men against IPCA (International Chess Organisation for Physically Disabled)…3-1..well done boys!

SA men on the right..image: chessaol.wordpress.com

The Gaprindashvili Cup – click on the image for a clear view, or follow this link: The link will open in a new window.

http://chessforall.co.za/tournaments/tourreps/olympiad_dresden/newsitems.php?page=newsitems/olym_dres_n10.html 

 

Dresden top 10 Africa countries…South Africa is second in the Africa-group image: chessforall.co.za

Dresden: Top 20 countries: Gaprindashvilicup

Dresden rankings: SA ranked in position no 58

Dresden final standings: Top 20 countries after round 11 – click on the image for a clear view. South Africa is in position 56.

Dresden Top 10 Women: Image: chess.com

Countries represented at Dresden

Please click HERE to play through the game of Cheparinov in round 9.

Please click HERE to play through the game of Radjabov in round 9.
more games of the masters to follow a bit later!

Radjabov: Image: Official site of Dresden

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Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008

 

 

Click on the top image/logo to access the official site of Dresen 2008, it will open in a new window and on the “live” image for the live games.
Click HERE for round 1 live games. The link will open in a new window. Then click on the country and it will take you to a window where you can click on “live”. There is a separate link to the Women’s section.

Please click on THIS LINK to see more images of the South African team at Dresden and for more results. The link will open in a new window.

„There is an incredible treasure of all kinds in this beautiful place” wrote Goethe about Dresden. Today Saxony’s state capital has rebuilt its glamorous position step by step. Dresden as cultural metropole is a worldwide center of attraction – and a strong location for economy and science. Dresden’s microelectronics cluster (ZMD, AMD, Infineon), Fraunhofer Institutes, the Max-Planck Institutes, the Technical University and the College of Arts represent an environment offering a mentality which is also determining for chess. Thus, Dresden is, for example, City of Science 2006.

Intelligence has here been at home already very early. 1083 the Bohemian daughter of a king, Judith, brought along a precious chess game as dowry to Saxony. Therewith, Dresden’s match as a chess city was begun. Alone since 1991 210 international and national relevant chess events could be experienced. Stars like Anatoly Karpov or Garry Kasparov are in Dresden oftentimes. Even the castling is close by to relax.

Elena Winkelmann is one of Germany’s greatest chess talents. Here she is playing in front of the emblem of the EURO 2007 and the Chess Olympiad, the Crown Gate of the Zwinger.

A dignified framework: the venue of the Olympiad 2008 in the ICD Dresden is located directly on the river banks on the old side of the city. Church of our Lady, Semper Opera, Castle, Bruhl’s Terrace – the famous baroque ensemble is only a few steps away. And every visitor right away feels the special flair of hospitality and love for cultural engagement in the whole city. Read on the Official Site more about Dresden.

Image: Dresden2008

Please click HERE to access the official site where you can locate your country to view the players/teams that will take part. The links in this post will all open in a new window.Please click HERE to read about Jennifer Shahade’s visit to South Africa and you can see images from her and her visit.

Simen Agdestein, Norwegian Grandmaster toured South Africa during March and said SA has great chess talent, the problem South Africans face…is the fact that they are far from Europe to play tournaments! You can see his image in this post where he played chess in a restaurant in South Africa.

Kenny Solomon

Carmen de Jager, Anzel Solomons and Monique Sischy

Melissa Greeff

Image chessbase :Henry Steel

Image: chessbase:Jenine Elappen, Anzel Solomons, Melissa Greeff

South African players

Image: Chessbase..Dresden Chess 2008…map with details

1. Congress Center Dresden (Playing Hall)
2. Hotel Maritim Hotel
3. Westin Bellevue
4. Museum Japanese Palais
5. Art‘otel
6. Freiberger Arena (Opening Ceremony)

Dresden: Schedule…Info: Chessbase

Image: spotlightgermany.com

Watu Kobese….Image: farm1.static.flickr.com/5/4967409_aa51644369

Please click HERE to play through a game of Watu Kobese against Jennifer Shahade played in Philadelphia in June 1998. The game was Kobese’s.

Chess Art…a display at Dresden 2008 – Image: http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com

Image: dresden2008

Grootmeester Simen Agdestein van Noorweë speel ‘n potjie informele skaak in ‘n restaurant in Pretoria. Sy hoed is ‘n aandenking van Suid-Afrika. Foto: Waldo Swiegers

SA hét talent, sê skaak-grootmeester Mar 03 2008 01:21:33:830AM  – (SA)  
Neels Jackson

Suid-Afrika se skaakspelers is erg ondergegradeer.

Dís die mening van mnr. Simen Agdestein, Noorweegse grootmeester, wat die naweek saam met ’n groep van sy skaakleerlinge in Suid-Afrika aangekom het om deur die land te toer. Hulle speel die naweek ook in ’n internasionaal gegradeerde toernooi by die Hoërskool Waterkloof in Pretoria.

Agdestein sê as Suid-Afrika nie so ver van Europa was nie en meer van sy spelers kon gereeld aan internasionale toernooie deelneem, sou die land al verskeie grootmeesters opgelewer het.

Hy was op sy dag die wêreld se no. 16-speler, maar hy lê hom nou toe op skaakafrigting by ’n Noorweegse sportskool. Hy is een van nege Noorweegse grootmeesters.

Dat hy ook ander talente het, blyk daaruit dat hy sy land agt keer as doelskieter van die nasionale sokkerspan verteenwoordig het.

Hy het ook aan die Noorweegse weergawe van Strictly come dancing deelgeneem, maar sê hy het vroeg uitgeval weens ’n swak ronde met die tango.

Die sportskool waar hy skaakafrigting doen, het ’n samewerkingsooreenkoms met die Hoërskool Waterkloof se skaaksentrum gesluit. Die Noorweërs se besoek is deel van dié ooreenkoms.

Skaak help kinders volgens hom nie net met hul verstandelike ontwikkeling nie. Dit verryk ook hul lewe deurdat hulle mense op ’n ander manier leer ken.

Hy bestempel dit as ’n geson-de aktiwiteit – baie beter as rekenaarspeletjies, wat hy as “ silly ” bestempel.

http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2280944,00.html.

Image: Wikipedia..The symbol of the 6th Olympiad held in 1935 in Warshaw by J Steifer.

Birth of the Olympiad
The first Olympiad was unofficial. For the 1924 Olympics an attempt was made to include chess in the Olympics Games but this failed because of problems with distinguishing between amateur and professional players.While the 1924 Summer Olympics was taking place in Paris, the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad also took place in Paris. FIDE was formed on Sunday, July 20, 1924, the closing day of the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad. FIDE organised the first Official Olympiad in 1927 which took place in London.The Olympiads were occasionally held annually and at irregular intervals until World War II; since 1950 they have been held regularly every two years.

Read more about the history of the Chess Olympiad on this link which will open in a new window.

Image: Wikipedia
Bobby Fischer’s score card from his round 3 game during the Chess Olympiad in 1970…he played against Miguel Najdorf in Warshaw.

Children in Nepal playing chess!   Image: susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/11/picture-of-the-day-global-chess.html

Dresden Opening Ceremony images

Dresden Opening Ceremony

Results: Round 1

Dresden round 1: South Africa’s Woman’s team against Tunisia

 

Results round 1: Hong Kong vs South Africa

Dresden round 1: England vs Turkey

Round 2 results – games played on Friday 14th November 2008

Melissa Greeff Round 2 move 19

Melissa Greeff Round 2 draw

Melissa Greef Round 2 move list – 1/2

Monique Sischy  Round 2 move 14 – 1/2

 

Watu Kobese round 2 move 20

Watu Kobese Round 2 Dresden end position and move list – 1/2

Jenine Ellappen round 2

Jenine Ellappen Round 2 move list – 1-0

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Chess and the 7 dimensions of life

Images: chesshouse.com

I have a couple of articles/posts on my blog about chess and the link between chess and academic performance, the  research  that was done by various people, the reasons why your child should play chess etc. Today’s article is no difference and I’ve added an article about chess and the 7 dimensions, which you might enjoy and then 3 of my own games. I’ve taken out my opponents’ nicknames this time. Two games were friendlies and the last game was a rated game. As Ray mentioned the other day on his blog- (if you love playing chess, please play him on chess.com, his blog-link is on my blog roll and you can leave him a message on his blog, but be aware, he’s no softy when it comes to chess! Don’t come back to me crying! lol!) -that I used to blog only games where my opponents were defeated…(no comments…:) Anyway…I have blogged  awhile ago some of my games where I was the complete loser!  Enjoy the games here…You will notice that I played white in all three the games. You can play through these games, the game-links will open in a new window. If you wanna play me, I do play now on chess.com. If you follow the link on my sidebar, register, then you will automatically be a friend of me and we can play!

You will also find an article you might not be able to read…that’s Afrikaans! The article is about Ezet, she took part in the World Youth Championships that ended last week in Vietnam. The link of the Saffa-players and their results is also available to be viewed. On this link here you can find the official site of the World Youth Chess Championships in Vietnam. The link will open in a new window.
http://wycc2008.vietnamchess.com/index.php

Chess Improves Academic Performance
Chess has long been recognized throughout the world as a builder of strong intellects, but only recently has the United States begun to recognize chess’s ability to improve the cognitive abilities, rational thinking and reasoning of even the least promising children. Chess brings out latent abilities that have not been reached by traditional educational means. It promotes logical thinking, instills a sense of self‑confidence and self‑worth, and improves communication and pattern recognition skills. It teaches the values of hard work, concentration, objectivity, and commitment. As former World Chess Champion Emmanuel Lasker said, “On the chessboard lies and hypocrisy do not survive long.”

In Marina, CA, an experiment with chess indicated that after only 20 days of instruction, students’ academic performance improved dramatically. George L Stephenson, chairman of the Marina JHS math department, reported that 55% of students showed significant improvement in academic performance after this brief smattering of chess instruction.

Similarly, a 5‑year study of 7th and 8th graders by Robert Ferguson of the Bradford, PA School District showed that test scores improved 173% for students regularly engaged in chess classes, compared with only 4.56% for children participating in other forms of “enrichment activities” including Future Problem Solving, Dungeons and Dragons, Problem Solving with Computers, independent study, and creative writing. A Watson‑Glaser Thinking Appraisal evaluation showed overwhelmingly that chess improved critical thinking skills more than the other methods of enrichment.

Educators at the Roberto Clemente School (C.I.S. 166) in New York report that chess has improved not only academic scores, but social performance as well. In 1988, Joyce Brown, an assistant principal and supervisor of the school’s Special Education department, and teacher Florence Mirin began studying the effect of chess on their Special Education students. When the study began, they had 15 children enrolled in chess classes; two years later they had 398‑

“The effects have been remarkable,” Brown says. “Not only have the reading and math skills of these children soared, their ability to socialize has increased substantially, too. Our studies have shown that incidents of suspension. and outside altercations have decreased by at least 60% since these children became interested in chess.”

Connie Wingate, Principal, P.S. 123 in New York, says of a New York City school chess program, “This is wonderful! This is marvelous! This is stupendous! It’s the finest thing that ever happened to this school. I am most sincere. It has been an absolute plus for the students who were directly involved as well as for the rest of the school… If I could say one thing to funders, it would be this. If they ever walked down 140th St. and 8th Ave. and had the opportunity to see where our children come from, they would know that these children deserve every single break that they can get. They are trying, through chess, to apply themselves and do something to better themselves. And that filters into the entire school and community… More than anything else, chess makes a difference… what it has done for these children is simply beyond anything that I can describe. The highest scoring student in out school is a member of the chess team. He became the highest scoring kid in the school after he joined the chess team. All four are in the top quarter of the school, and they weren’t before. Academically, they are doing much better in class, and it’s in no small part because of chess. Just how they feel about themselves, their self‑esteem, makes them all winners.”

Jo Bruno, Principal, P.S. 189, ‑Brooklyn, NY:. “In‑chess tournaments the child gets the opportunity of seeing more variety and diversity. There are kids who have more money than they have, but chess is a common denominator. They are all equal on the chessboard. I believe it is connected academically and to the intellectual development of children. I see them able to attend to something for more than an hour and a half. I am stunned. Some of them could not attend to things for more than 20 minutes.”

Jerome Fishman, Guidance Counselor, C.J.H.S 231, Queens, NY: “I like the aspect of socialization. You get into friendly, competitive activity where no one gets hurt. Instead of two bodies slamming into each other like in football, you’ve got the meeting of two minds. It’s strategic, and you use logic to plan an attack scheme. Aside from being good for the cognitive development of these youngsters, chess develops their social skills, too. It makes them feel they belong. Whenever we get a child transferred from another school who may have maladaptive behavior, our principal (Dr. Wilton Anderson) suggests chess as a way of helping him find his niche. It also helps kids learn how to be better friends. They analyze the game and talk it over afterwards. I even had a couple of kids who never had much in common start going to each other’s houses to play chess and swap Chess Life magazines. We’ve got kids literally lining up in front of the school at 6:45 am to get a little chess in before classes start.”

Source for most of the above: New York City Schools Chess Program by Christine Palm, copyright 1990
https://www.chesshouse.com/articles.asp?id=115

http://knightofchess.com/34/the-role-of-chess-in-modern-education/

http://knightofchess.com/31/chess-makes-kids-smarter/

On this link you will find these articles to read.
Articles on Chess.. The link will open in a new window.
Chess Improves Academic Performance
More Schools Learn Power of Checkmate
Chess Makes Kids Smarter
From Street Kids to Royal Knights
Role of Chess in Modern Education
One Boy’s Chess Story
Chess is the Gymnasium of the Mind
Chess and Education

World Youth Chess Championships…see the official link in top of this entry.

http://www.sajca.com/wycc2008.html Uitslae van die Suid-Afrikaanse spelers. Die link sal in ‘n nuwe venster oopmaak.
 

Ezet het aan die Wêreld Junior Skaakkampioenskappe deelgeneem en op die link kan die uitslae gevind word.
 Ezet Roos, ’n gr. 11-leerling van die Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool in Pretoria, gaan in Oktober vanjaar baie min van haar skoolbank sien.
Dié talentvolle skaakspeler gaan aan twee toernooie in dié maand deelneem. Sy gaan eers na Beijing vir die World Mind Games en daarna na Viëtnam om aan die Wêreldjeugkampioenskap deel te neem.

Ezet het al ses keer na dié kampioenskap gegaan en het al elke jaar sedert sy tien jaar oud was Suid-Afrikaanse kleure gekry.

Ezet het ook haar skaakvermoëns in verskeie lande ten toon gestel.

“Ek was al in Spanje, Griekeland, Rusland en Turkye. Rusland is ’n vreemde land, maar die mense speel baie goed skaak. Hulle begin baie jonger as ons speel.”

Hoewel sy meen die Oos-Europese lande se gehalte van spel is veel beter as hier, sê sy Suid-Afrikaners hoef glad nie terug te staan vir lande soos Australië of Nieu-Seeland nie.

“Ons sukkel dalk teen lande soos Rusland, maar verder doen ons heel oukei.”

Volgens haar vereis skaak ’n ander soort fiksheid as ander sportsoorte.

“Mense dink skaak is nie ’n sport nie, maar net soos ander sportsoorte is dit onvoorspelbaar. Jy kan so hard oefen soos jy wil, maar jy weet nooit wat gaan gebeur nie.

“As jy in toernooie speel, moet jy vyf uur lank konsentreer. Jy is dalk nie soos met ander sporte uitasem nie, maar dit maak my baie moeg en ná ’n wedstryd wil ek net slaap.”

http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Sport/Skolesport/0,,3-63-2372_2385625,00.html

Chess game 1

Nikita1 vs. Bg

Chess game 2

Nikita1 vs. The…

Chess game 3

Nikita1 vs. bir..

“The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the Universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature and the player on the other side is hidden from us”
(Thomas Huxley)

 7 – Dimensions of Life article submitted by: Dr J Slobodzien The link of the article is at the bottom of the post and it will open in a new window.

1. Social / Cultural Dimension – I started seeing that your chess pieces are like family members and significant others in your life that you try to protect the best you can. We are all alike (black or white in chess) and we try to move and communicate in ways that will support our mutual goals. Unfortunately though, you end up losing the ones you love.

2. Medical/ Physical Dimension – In order to maintain a healthy body we must maintain a balance of moving (exercise), eating (our opponents pieces), and resting (knowing when not to move).

3. Mental/ Emotional Dimension – Chess forces us to think really hard about our actions, the consequences of our actions, and how our behavior affects others and the world around us. It also gives us opportunities to experience and deal with emotions – like anger, revenge, grief, and joy, etc.

4. Educational/ Occupational Dimension – Chess develops our attention span, concentration abilities, and memory – so that we can learn, be trained and skilled, and maintain satisfying work experiences.

5. Spiritual/ Religious Dimension – I didn’t notice a spiritual side to chess until one of my pawns first got transformed (born-again) into a Queen. At that point, I realized that our weakest members in life have the potential to become our strongest heroes. Chess also develops our faith in a set of organized beliefs and practices much like religion.

6. Legal/ Financial Dimension – Chess teaches us that there are consequences for not obeying the law (not playing by the rules of the game). There are also rewards for logically and systematically making the right moves in life.

7. Self-Control/ Higher Power Control Dimension- Chess teaches us that even though we may follow all the rules, all of the time – we do not have total control of our destiny (who wins the game and who loses). As Thomas Huxley so eloquently put it in his famous quote above (“the player on the other side is hidden”).

http://searchwarp.com/swa305229.htm

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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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Watu Kobese vs Rian Cox

Watu Kobese IM (South Africa)..Image: farm1.static.flickr.com

This is a news article about Watu playing chess on the 29th June in Pretoria in a simul to raise money for the Ramlodi chess festival in July. A Grade 7-student (u/14) checkmated him in a game! Rian Cox is also a Springbok Chess player.
Read more about the RAMLODI Chess Festival here and you can visit the Official site here …
On THIS LINK you can play through his games on Chessgames.

On THIS LINK you can read about the Chess simultaneous on the Kolonnade Centre’s site.

Skaakkampioen kom toe ’n Ermeloër teë
Jun 29 2008 06:13:41:670PM – (SA)

Mnr. Watu Kobese, Suid-Afrika se skaakmeester met die hoogste gradering tans, het Pretorianers – 40 van hulle – eergister by die Kolonnade-inkopiesentrum in Pretoria die stryd aangesê.

’n Oorlogsveld van 40 skaakborde is staangemaak terwyl Kobese opponente begin lok het.

“Ek glo skaak kry nie genoeg erkenning in Suid-Afrika nie. Selfs die onderwysdepartement moet verstaan dat skaak help met jou leerwerk en kognitiewe denke,” het die skaakfoendi gesê.

“ ’n Skaakbord het ’n X- en Y-as wanneer ’n mens byvoorbeeld aan wiskunde dink. Skaak is baie goedkoop en jy het geen spasie nodig daarvoor nie. Skaak is vir my soos musiek en kuns. Dis ’n intellektuele plesier. Dit leer jou ook om jou opponent te respekteer.

“Daar word gemeen dat skaak jou sosiale karakter weerspieël. Ek is ’n baie aggressiewe onkompromistiese speler. ’n Mens moet skaakfiks wees. Sodra jy slaplê, verlaag jou sin vir gevaar. ’n Rede vir my sukses is die vermoë om vinnig variasies te bereken op die skaakbord.

Soos ek aanstap van een opponent na die volgende, hou ek my moeilike opponente in gedagte en werk solank aan daardie skuiwe in my kop. Ek vrees Russiese spelers die meeste. Hulle leer skaak van vroeg af op skool.”

Terwyl die tuisopponente peinsend die skaakbord voor hulle bestudeer, stap Kobese al skuiwende van een spel na die volgende. “Skaak laat jou verder dink,” vertel Werner Buys (10) van Rayton. “Skaak is werklik fun en dit gee ’n mens kans om jou tyd ordentlik te bestee.”

En toe kom die groot gif in die klein botteltjie. Uit die 47 skaakspele wat Kobese gespeel het, was een spel ’n probleem.

’n Gr. 7-leerling van Ermelo en ’n o.14 junior skaak-Springbok, Rian Cox, vertel: “Ek het my ruiter vir twee van Watu se pionne opgeoffer, dit alles om Watu se koning oop te kry. En in die 21ste skuif was dit skaakmat.”

Hannah Kneen–8jr — van Johannesburg hou die volgende skuif van mnr. Watu Kobese, ‘n skaakmeester, dop. ‘n Geldinsameling is die naweek by die Kolonnade-inkopiesentrum in Pretoria gehou vir die Ramlodi-skaakfees wat op 18 Julie in Pretoria begin. Foto: Leon Botha

Source: http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2349020,00.html

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