This was a record turnout in this chess tournament.Zimbabwe got the hosting rights from Algeria who were supposed to be hosts at the last minute and held this tournament in a short space of time.
It was full of last minute pressure but the best came from this tournament as there was a nice venue courtesy of Dominican Convent School. SR. Kudzi was very instrumental in ensuring that the games were played 8in a good ambience as well as the Dominican Convent Staff members who made sure that it was a top notch chess tournament. This event played host to players from under 8,10,12,14,16 and 18 both boys and girls.
The winner of the under 18 category was Rafel Sharon of Zambia. By winning this event Fide Master Sharon became an International Master with 8/9 points in this tournament. He never lost any single game as he drew two games against Fide Master Sooajay Jorah and candidate Master Felix Raphel both of South Africa. Fide Master Kandil Ahmed of Egypt’s only loss was against Fide Master Rafel Sharon of Zambia. He was pipped in a direct encounter though they finished with the same number of points eventually coming out second while cm Felix came third winning a bronze medal.
ACC President Tshepiso Lopang has lauded the Zimbabwean chess federation for delivering an interesting African Youth Chess Championship held at Dominican Convent in Harare , Zimbabwe 568 participants took part in this event and the competition was very intense in all the groups as there was a some fighting chess which was exhibited by the players from the 18 Federations or countries which are part of the ACC.Lopang further postulated that,” i would like to applaud the Local Organising Committee led by Todd Mapingire the Zimbabwe Chess Federation President for doing an amazing job in the organising of the event. Host School Dominican Convent provided an excellent venue for the tournament for the participants and I think going forward we need to partner with schools for the hosting of tournaments of this magnitude so that in the next events, we also have our kids enjoying themselves when they are taking a break from chess.” said Lopang.
Team Kenya dominated the medals table as well as numbers among the countries that supported the tournament. It was very supportive not forgetting South Africa, Zimbabwe the hosts had the biggest number of participants and they gave their all though eventually managing a single silver medal.Nota Tariro Talent came second in the under 8 girls category and finished with 7 points out of 9 games played.She won a silver medalfor the country and everyone is proud of her performance. Eryna Jain finished with 5 points and was tied on fourth place in this same age group. Another top performer from Zimbawe was Tinayeishe Nhamburo who finished with 7 points out of nine games and was tied second but fourth on buccholzz. This was a good performance from our youngster but alas it was not to bre a podium finish.Shayne T Makurane came fifth with 6.5 points out of 9 games played.This shows that the future of chess is bright in Zimbabwe if the foundation remains like this more chmpions will be churned.
Meanwhile in the under 10 girls section Hwema Tiffany was the best performing Zimbabwean with 6 points out of 9 games played.
Shes was followed by Mbaje Mya who had 5.5 points in this same section. In the under 10 boys section Li Xing was the best performing Zimbabwean with 6 /9 games played. He was followed by Atida Mukono who finished with 5.5/9 games played. i the under 12 girls section Ihude Shantel finished with 6/9 and she was tied on third position but failed to make it to the podium because of the tie-break rules which affected her but it was a great performance from one of the triplets.Jemima Masarira and Nerchitima Nyasha are other Zimbabweans who finished with 5.5 points in the under 12 girls and prioduced the second best performance from a Zimbabwean in this section after Shantel Ihude. In the under 12 boys catergory Banana Emmanuel had himself to blame when he failed to deliver a suckerpunch in his penultimate game against Tumelo Lwenyeka of Zambia which ended as a draw in a must win position for Banana who performed well in this tournament in one of the toughest age groups in thus tournament. He eventually finished with 6.5 /9 while Ihude Omunojok followed closely behind with 6 points. Mbondo Kelly and Grace Zvarebwa were best performing Zimbabweans with 6 points and 5.5 points respectively in the under 14 girls catergory.
Gweshe Jordan scored 5.5 points out of 9 games and was the best performing Zimbabwean in the under 14 Open category. Carol Ndlovu finished 6th with 5.5 points in the under 16 girls section. Prosper Matyire missed a medal by a whisker as he was tied third but fourth on buccholzz he had 6.5 points followed by Amith Boddapati who also missed a win in a must win position and he blew the game together with the medal away as it slipped through his fingers finishing with 6 points and tied fifth in the under 16 Open category. In the under 18 girls category Matifadzaishe Mhungu out manuvred Deborah Quickpen of Nigeria who was the eventual winner of her age group in her most prized career win. Moyo Lindelwe finshed with 5,5 points while Matifadzaishe missed a win i the final round to finish with 5 points. Mutero Tadisa finished with 5.5 points in the under 18 Open section and was the best performing Zimbabwean.
One can say that this is step in the right direction for team Zimbabwe as most of the players will be able to have some ratings. This is the beginning of better things to come and rated tournaments for the juniors is the way to go. Even a rated league will reap some results. Chess will never be the same after this tournament as it left an indeiable mark on the chess fraternity!<