Namibia seek back-to-back wins at Olympiad

Namibia’s Open and women’s teams have each recorded one victory and one defeat after the opening two rounds of the 46th Chess Olympiad at the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre in Uzbekistan.

The Open team opened against a potent Romanian outfit boasting three grandmasters (GMs) and one international master (IM), going down 3½-½.

Namibia’s only IM, Dante Beukes, accounted for their half-point by holding GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac to a draw on board one.

The Land of the Brave were more composed in the second round yesterday against Tanzania, where Beukes, Simon Shidolo, Leonhard Mueller and Charles Eichab stormed to a clean 4-0 victory.

The team is currently over the board against Paraguay, with Bernhard Schwarz coming in for Shidolo on board two.

Women's section

Meanwhile, the women are also looking for a second consecutive victory against an all-titled El Salvador line-up, with WCM Jamie-Nicole Beukes on board one alongside Helvi Shuudifonya, WCM Jolly-Joice Nepando and 12-year-old Shadah Uanguta.

Namibia’s first victory in the women’s section came against Somalia yesterday, when they held on for a narrow 2½-1½ win to recover from a 4-0 opening-round defeat against an all-titled Argentina outfit.

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