SA, Egypt dominate
South Africa and Egypt dominated the just-ended youth chess championship in Windhoek.
The 2019 African Youth Chess Championships (AYCC) tournament kicked off on 14 December and ended this past Saturday at the Windhoek Country Club Resort.
At the conclusion of the tournament, South Africa was crowned the best performers, winning three gold, four silver and three bronze medals, followed by Egypt who took home three gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
Algeria came third with two gold and two silver medals.
Host country Namibia won one gold medal through Dante Beukes in the under-18 open age group to become a World Chess Federation (FIDE) international master (IM).
The lifetime IM title is awarded to strong chess players and is one step behind the grandmaster title, which is the highest grading a chess player can achieve.
A total of 16 countries took part in the tournament - Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Addressing the closing ceremony, FIDE vice-president Olalekan Adeyemi said the AYCC was a platform where future world champions could be unearthed.
“I would like to congratulate all the players who participated in this tournament, because they are all winners. FIDE will continue to support this initiative, as it a proper place to develop chess players,” he said. Adeyemi further paid tribute to the organisers, saying they have done a wonderful job in putting together a tournament of such a magnitude.
Namibia Chess Federation president Charles Eixab thanked the African Chess Federation for allowing Namibia to host a huge tournament like the AYCC for the first time ever.
“This tournament will help the participants to nurture their talent, which will one day help them to derive the benefits of playing chess. The AYCC not only gives an opportunity for the best players to showcase their skills, but it also helps us to introspect on ourselves as federations, on where we must improve,” he explained.
Over 240 players participated in the under-8, u-10, u-12, u-14, u-16; and u-18 players boys and girls sections.
NAMPA
At the conclusion of the tournament, South Africa was crowned the best performers, winning three gold, four silver and three bronze medals, followed by Egypt who took home three gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
Algeria came third with two gold and two silver medals.
Host country Namibia won one gold medal through Dante Beukes in the under-18 open age group to become a World Chess Federation (FIDE) international master (IM).
The lifetime IM title is awarded to strong chess players and is one step behind the grandmaster title, which is the highest grading a chess player can achieve.
A total of 16 countries took part in the tournament - Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Addressing the closing ceremony, FIDE vice-president Olalekan Adeyemi said the AYCC was a platform where future world champions could be unearthed.
“I would like to congratulate all the players who participated in this tournament, because they are all winners. FIDE will continue to support this initiative, as it a proper place to develop chess players,” he said. Adeyemi further paid tribute to the organisers, saying they have done a wonderful job in putting together a tournament of such a magnitude.
Namibia Chess Federation president Charles Eixab thanked the African Chess Federation for allowing Namibia to host a huge tournament like the AYCC for the first time ever.
“This tournament will help the participants to nurture their talent, which will one day help them to derive the benefits of playing chess. The AYCC not only gives an opportunity for the best players to showcase their skills, but it also helps us to introspect on ourselves as federations, on where we must improve,” he explained.
Over 240 players participated in the under-8, u-10, u-12, u-14, u-16; and u-18 players boys and girls sections.
NAMPA
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