The past weekend we had a spectacular chess event when Silvestor Nanyala, a student at Unam won the 4th Bank Windhoek Namibia National Open Junior Chess Championships 2011 with a perfect score of 7/7. Nanyala was calm and collected as he raked in the one victory after the other. He has a great passion for chess and has proven that he can be a champion this year. Nanyala was followed closely by Julian Isaak, the 2x TWCA Champion and current National Junior Champion of Namibia with 6/7. Hot on his heals were Mclean Handjaba from Unam who also displayed great chess skill with a 5/7 score. The trophy for the best female junior player went to Stephne Swartz from TWCA who also scored 5/7. She is making a comeback to chess after a hiatus of 3 years from competitive chess.
In the u/18 section we had another perfect score of 7/7 by Hange Tjingaete from ZCA. Hange is a promising upcoming star and is one of the favorites to capture the Namibian Junior Chess Champion title. Hange was caught by a deadly attraction combination of Jack Tjaronda in round 6, but kept his composure and defeated Jack in a technical endgame. In 2nd place we had William Kamberipa from TWCA with 6/7. Kamberipa also performed well but was unfortunately outwitted by Hange in round 5. In 3rd place we had Jack (The Blitz Master)Tjaronda with 5.5/7 also from TWCA.
Lichen Mentile, from ZCA dominated the u/16 section with a 6/7 score. This young lady also played her best chess ever when she disposed of her closes rivals Kajovi and Tjitjiri in grand style. She is another favorite contender for the ultimate title. She proofed once again that girls can deal with the boys, if given the same opportunities. In 2nd place was Kajovi from TWCA with 5.5/7. Kajovi only conceded 1.5 point to Lichen and Antonio from Academia. 3rd was none other than Michael Neib from Kolin Foundation who scored 5/7.
The u/14 section was dominated by Abhinav Lahiri from TWCA with 6.5/7. Abhinav escaped a sure defeat from Nicola Tjaronda in their round 4 encounter. She had him on the ropes but he played until she blundered and he pulled a Houdini with a draw. Samuel Tjipeiekera from Kolin Foundation came 2nd with 5.5 after he went all out from move 1 in the last round against Nicola and defeated her in 6 moves. It was a shoker for our Junior Female Champion 2010, but she just laugh it off and promised not to fall for the beginners trap again. Nicola Tjaronda from TWCA had to accept the 3rd place with 5.5 because the first tie-break was direct encounter with her rival Samuel.
Josua Cloete, from St. Pauls College took the top spot in the u/12 section with a 6/7 score. It was his first event in the juniors, but the lad had lots of fun and won his games smiling. He was followed by Ileni Kandume from ZCA with 5.5/7. In third we had Mutago Hochobeb also from ZCA with 5/7.
The under 10 section was dominated by ZCA duo Jamal and O’Brein. Jamal Simataa came first with 5.5/6 followed closely by O’Brein Simasiku with 5/6. During the event we saw them having lots of fun. They have frequent many a chess event the last 3 years and the training form their coaches from ZCA are surely paying off. In 3rd place we had another newcomer Josua Britz, from TWCA with 4.5/6. It was also his first exposure at the junior champs. Josua had a very modest and objective view of the competition as he did not boast with his victories. He too had lots of fun with his debut. The u/10 section only played 6 rounds as there were not enough participants to pair a seventh round.
The u/8 section was dominated by another newcomer, Krishanu Lahiri from TWCA. This lad played very fast and when we cautioned him to slow down he replied” but it is so easy to attack them” He did not boast but he certainly enjoyed himself. He two had a perfect score of 7/7. His closes rival was Kevin Gurirab from ZCA who has a very sore eye but insisted to participate and came 2nd with 5.5/7. It was great to witness such determination from this young lad. Here we have seen the pure passion for chess. A grandmaster in the making. Kasparov also participated in the u/8 section and came 3rd overall with 5/7. Yes, his name is Kasparov Nangula. His parents gave him the name of the 13th World Chess Champion and ZCA are in the process to mould him into a World Champion.
165 juniors from all over the country came to participate and played 1155 games over 7 rounds. 42 Namibians qualified for the final showdown to determine the Namibian Junior Champions for Namibia on the 22,23 and 24 July 2011. It will be a 7 round classical Swiss system chess tournament with a 1h15 minutes, time control per player for the entire game.
The Qualifiers for the close event are as follows:
Place Surname Name Club Count Rating Score Progr. M-
Buch.
1 Gurirab Kevin ZCA 1 1100 5.5 18 16
2 Nangula Kasparov ZCA 1 1100 5 22 16.5
3 Katjatenja Wendji CCA 1 1100 3.5 11.5 18
4 Newman Franlin CCA 1 1000 3 14 18.5
5 Hiloohamba Jennifer ZCA 1 1100 3 12.5 18.5
6 Mavunga Farai CCA 1 1100 1 6 18.5
7 Simataa Jamal ZCA 1 1100 5.5 18.5 11
8 Simasiku O'brein ZCA 1 1100 5 17 12.5
9 Britz Joshua TWCA 1 1200 4.5 15.5 13
10 Swartz Simone TWCA 1 1100 3 12 13
11 Amuphadi Tangeni ZCA 1 1100 2.5 8.5 13
12 Kefilwe Kajovi ZCA 1 1100 2.5 8.5 11
13 Cloete Josua ST PAULS 1 1100 6 21 17
14 Kandume Ileni ZCA 1 1100 5.5 20.5 19
15 Hochobeb Mutago ZCA 1 1100 5 23 18
16 Njembo Galilei CCA 1 1100 4.5 16.5 19
17 Hochobeb Mubasen ZCA 1 1400 4 21 22
18 Gowaseb Dale CCA 1 1100 4 12.5 13.5
19 Tjipeiekera Samuel KOLIN 1 1300 5.5 24 17.5
20 Tjaronda Nicola TWCA 1 1600 5.5 25 23
21 Trepper Tibor TWCA 1 1550 5 22 21.5
22 Nangula Etu ZCA 1 1590 5 21 19
23 Kafo Jafet TWCA 1 1450 4.5 17.5 17
24 Nitzborn Camy TWCA 1 1480 4.5 17 17.5
25 Mentile Lichen ZCA 1 1600 6 27 22
26 Kajovi Matjiua TWCA 1 1685 5.5 24.5 23
27 Neib Michael KOLIN 1 1300 5 21 20.5
28 Kafo David TWCA 1 1670 5 21 17.5
29 Antonio Michael ACADEMIA 1 1300 5 19.5 19
30 Sabati Kelsey TWCA 1 1660 5 19 18.5
31 Tjingaete Hange ZCA 1 1710 7 28 23.5
32 Kamberipa William TWCA 1 1710 6 25 21.5
33 Tjaronda Jack TWCA 1 1600 5.5 24 19
34 Haipinge Haitange KOLIN 1 1300 5 22 21
35 Retief Christo TWCA 1 1700 5 21 22
36 Joseph Mateus KOLIN 1 1300 5 18 18.5
37 Nanyala Silvestor UNAM 1 1800 7 28 20
38 Isaak Julian TWCA 1 1750 6 24 19.5
39 Handjaba Mclean UNAM 1 1700 5 23 21
40 Swartz Stephne TWCA 1 1760 5 21 19
41 Gariseb Immanuel TWCA 1 1780 5 20 19
42 Swartz Stoffel MAR 1 1300 4.5 17.5 15
The Namibia Chess Federation would like to thank the official sponsor of the event, Bank Windhoek for their financial support the last 4 years. Together we do better.
Yes, he did it again with another perfect score of 7/7. Silvestor Nanyala (Superman) played his best classical chess this past weekend. He defeated all 7 of his junior rivals including the 2010 Junior Champion Julian Isaak. He seemed unstoppable and even stayed calm when Hange Tjingaete captured his queen with a bang in their round 4 encounter. Nanyala, was unfazed and simply continue gently to wrap up the game in two more moves. In the last round the title could still go to Christo Retief, if only he defeats Nanyala. Fortunately for Nanyala, his tournament experience and years of passionate practice paid off in a final victory to clinch the title. Nanyala hails from Arandis and schooled at Kolin Foundation Secondary School where he learned to play chess. He studies Engineering at Unam Oshakati Campus.
The girls section was won by Lishen Mentile, a true Champion for the Zandell Chess Academy. Lishen stayed focus and conceded 3 points to her rivals to end with a 4/7 score. She was followed by Stephne Swartz from The Weekend Chess Academy also with 4/7. The progressive score of Stephne was only 18 in comparison with that of Lishen Mentile, which were 19. Stephne made a comeback two months ago after a hiatus of 3 years from chess and vowed to take the top spot next year. Yes, she said not Girl Champion but Junior Champion is her aim next year. In 3rd place was Nicola Tjaronda the 2010 Girls Junior Champion from The Weekend Chess Academy also with 4/7. Nicola got a draw in her last game. She were placed third due to the progressive score tiebreak she only had 16.5 points and that placed her third.
