Saturday 26 April 2014

Mueller & Tjaronda new Namibian Chess Champions



Fide Master (FM) Leonhard Mueller became the 2014 Namibian Chess Champion of the open section whilst 16 year old Nicola Tjaronda once again took her rightful place as the Namibian Women’s Chess Champion.

The NCF forked out more than 10 000 to host the annual event in capital and used this platform to select the male and female National Teams to represent the country at the World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway in August and with all being well to also represent Namibia at the 2015 All Africa Games in the Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

The women’s section embraced an all-play-all system known as a round-robin where all the ladies had to face each other in a scuffle to the top three spots.

Lishen Mentile came in 2nd place following Tjaronda while new girl on the block, Toshi Haufiku managed to secure her first ever 3rd spot win at the Nationals. All three ladies made it into the Women’s National Team together with Kamutuua Tjatindi who came in fourth spot.

Junior players at the event also battled it out for top honors with Matjiua Kajovi clinching the top spot, followed by William Kamberipa and Immanuel Gariseb respectfully.

Mueller took the spotlight in the open section from last year’s champion and tournament favorite Goodwill Khoa after an early triumph in round 2. This led to Mueller finishing with an amazing fit of 7 wins, one draw and only one defeat in the ninth round of the 5 day long chess tournament during the Easter break.

The new champion crushed all his opponents from the first round and remained unopposed in the driving seat for most of the tournament before drawing with former Namibian Champion and 3rd place runner up Max Nitzborn and only losing to McLean Handjaba in the last round.

His last round loss had no influence on the total tally however as Mueller was already the winner of the tournament after his clean sweep in round 8 against former National team player Simon Shidolo.

Mueller holds one of very few FIDE titles in the country and is currently the only Namibian Fide Master and has one of the highest chess ratings in the country; 2191. A Swiss lawyer by profession, the new champion said that it is always an honor for him to fly back to Namibia from his current home in Wettingen, Switzerland to part-take in the National tournament.

 “This was one of the strongest nationals I’ve ever played and I am happy to see chess growing in leaps and bounds in Namibia,” he said after receiving his gold trophy and cash prize of N$3000.00.

Fascinatingly, the open section winner and both 2nd and 3rd place runner-ups at this year’s Nationals are all former Namibian Chess Champions and have all represented Namibia at an international level in the past.

In 2nd place at the tournament was a familiar face in Namibian chess, Candidate Master (CM) Charles Eichab who recently won the Arandis Open Tournament and the 1st Leg of the Chess Grand Prix earlier this year.

Following Eichab, in 3rd place is another veteran player and the former President of the Namibia Chess Federation (NCF) Max Niztborn, who vowed to make a return into the National team after missing out at a chance to represent Namibia in at the Chess Olympiad Istanbul, Turkey in 2012.

Tournament director Fremantle Kuhanga applauded all the participants that took part at the prestigious tournament especially those that travelled from outside Windhoek and encouraged more parents to enroll their children into chess programs to help build a larger foundation and database of Namibian chess players. He also urged more females to take-part in chess as it regrettably still remains one of the many male dominated sport codes in the country.

The Men’s National team still has two open spot after Mueller, Eichab and Nitzborn sealed off the first 3. To fill up the 5 men team, the NCF will be hosting a selectional tournament with the top eight from the nationals, where the overall winner of that tournament will occupy the fourth spot on the team. The fifth player will be selected by the NCF at its discretion.


For future events or any enquiries contact the NCF public relations officer; McLean Handjaba (pro@namibiachessfederation.com).

Thursday 17 April 2014

2014 National Championship - Round 2 Fixtures:

Women's Section:

1 Albert, M (10)              :     Haufiku, T (6)
 2 Mentile, L (7)             :     Tjaronda, N (5)
 3 Valombola, M (8)     :     Shipindo, R (4)
 4 Emvula, A (9)           :     Nepando, J (3)
 5 Pandeni, T (1)          :     Tjatindi, B (2)

Open Section:          

 1 Leonard Mueller               :     Neshila Fernandez
 2 Simon Shidolo                  :     Charles Eichab   
 3 Sanders Oberholzer        :     Immanuel Gariseb 
 4 Calvin Eixab                      :     Goodwill Khoa    
 5 Otto Nakapunda               :     Bernhard Schwartz
 6 McLean Handjaba           :     Terence Ujamba   
 7 Matjiua Kajovi                   :     Thomas Ehrich    
 8 Edmund Gariseb              :     Max Baron Nitzborn
 9 Emmanuel Sihlahla         :     Leonard Nghifikwa
10 Titus Uukelo                    :     Tibor Trepper    
11 Fremantle Kuhanga      :     Richman Tjiriange
12 William Kamberipa         :     Eradius Mwaetako 
13 Dennis Gamaseb            :     Jossy Uapingene  
14 Brian Nakambonde       :     Adelino Uirab    
15 Gatsen Tjirare      3.0      :     0.0  BYE     

Sunday 13 April 2014

The Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) Africa  is involved in 5 FIDE rated tournaments during the months of April and May 2014 and it invites Namibian chess players that wish to part-take at thier own cost to feel free to request for ENTRY FORMS to any of the following by emailing the pro@namibiachessfederation.com to receive such.
The events include:
 
1. The 2014 Easter Open in Zimbabwe (18 - 21 April)
2. The 2014 East Africa Open in Kenya (18 - 21 April)
3. The 2014 Capablanca Festival in Pretoria (25 April - 4 May)
4. The 2014 Steinitz Open in Cape Town (9 - 18 May)
5. The 2014 World Amateur Chess Championships in Singapore (25 April - 4 May)
 
All this events are FIDE rated whilst both the Capablanca and Steinitz events include a GM norm section.
 
Information contributed by Graham Jurgensen, Director of the KCF Africa.
 

National Championship Countdown

Countdown to the 2014 National Chess Championship begins.

Dates: 17th to 21st April
Rounds: 9
Venue: Protea Hotel Thuringerhof
Official Sponsor: NCF

Tournament Regulations will be emailed to all members and posted here on www.namchess.blogspot.com by the 15th Tuesday.

Friday 11 April 2014

2014 GRAND PRIX 2nd LEG REGULATIONS


1.    VENUE: Open Area at the Sanlam Building foyer (confirmation still pending), or same venue as 1st leg: between Ministry of Justice and Nampost, Independence Avenue, Windhoek.

2.     EVENT DATE: 12 April 2014
3.     REGISTRATION
3.1 REGISTRATION PERIOD: 11 April 2014 till 08h45 12 April 2014
3.2 REGISTRATION METHODS: e-mail pro@namibiachessfederation.com or sms 081-4006467
3.3 PARTICIPANT’S PARTICULARS: Name, Gender
3.4 REGISTRATION FEES: Scholars - N$ 20, Adults - N$ 40

4. WHO MAY PARTICIPATE: This is an Open Tournament, everybody is welcome.

5. EVENT SCHEDULE:

Set-up starts: 07h00

Welcome and Opening - 08h45

Announcements: Tournament Director

Round 1 :  09h00-09h50
Round 2 :  10h00-10h50
Round 3 :  11h00-11h50
Round 4 :  11h00-11h50

Break:            12h00-12h50

Round 5 :  13h00-13h50
Round 6 :  14h00-14h50
Round 7 :  15h00-15h50

Prize Giving: 16h30

Vote of Thanks/Closing Remarks

5. FORMAT & RATE OF PLAY:
The tournament will be played over 7 (SEVEN) Swiss-paired rounds. Rate of play will be 25 minutes per player per game.

6. GRAND PRIX POINTS SYSTEM:
The Grand Prix Series consists of 5 (FIVE) legs. The overall winner of the Grand Prix shall be the player who amasses the most points in 4 (FOUR) of the 5 legs. For each Grand Prix leg, points will be allocated as follows to the top 8 (EIGHT) players;

1st Place                     = 12 points
2nd Place                    = 8 points
3rd Place                    = 6 points
4th Place                    = 5 points
5th Place                    = 4 points
6th Place                    = 3 points
7th Place                    = 2 points
8th Place                    = 1 point

6. PAIRING AND TIE BREAK SYSTEM:
Swiss Perfect will be used for the pairings. Please note that the breaks between rounds will be used to do the pairings according to the SWISS SYSTEM.
TIE-BREAK: Direct encounter, Progressive Score, Most Wins Median-Bucholz

7. PRIZES:
1st Prize                      = N$ 800 + Trophy & Gold Medal
2nd Prize                     = N$ 600 + Silver Medal
3rd Prize                     = N$ 400 + Bronze Medal

N$200 Worth of Lucky Prizes to be WON!

PS: Cash prizes to be shared by players with equal points. Tie-breaks will be used to determine final standings.

8. SPONSORSHIP OF 2ST LEG
8.1 SPONSOR: Chris Biasako
8.2 TOTAL: N$ 2,000

General Rules:
1. Silence at all times.
2. Cellular phones should be switched off or put on “silent” mode if switched on. No talking while playing allowed.
3. No assistance to chess players will be allowed during their games. A player who offers assistance will be expelled from the tournament.
4. If a player touches a piece, (s)he should move that piece, provided a legal move can be made with that piece. (Touch is a move.)
5. Each player must press the clock with the same hand that moves the pieces. However, when castling, capturing or completing a promotion, a player may use both hands.
6. Any player who makes themselves guilty of rude behaviour will be disqualified with immediate effect.

The rapid rules of FIDE will apply during this event.

The Appeals Committee to be announced in due course.

Complaints should be directed to the individual members of the Appeals Committee. Should a player be unhappy with the initial decision made by such a member, (s)he may appeal. The remaining members would then weigh in and their decision is final.

...............................................................................
Tournament Director
Fremantle Kuhanga
 081-4699070
ca@namibiachessfederation.com/
Web: http://namchess.blogspot.com