The annual Rhenish Primary Schools Tournament saw a good attendance from the new crop of players, as well as some stiff competition in all the age groups from the more seasoned players.
Rhenish 2019
Category: Chess Tournament
Cape Winelands Open 2019
Cape Winelands Chess held their Open Tournament in Worcester this year.
Heinrich Basson from Stellenbosch Chess Club won the Elite Section of the Tournament, followed by Salmo Cilliers and Keagan Palmer also from Stellenbosch.
Results for the Tournament –
Elite Section: http://chess-results.com/tnr435429.aspx?lan=1&art=4
B Section: http://chess-results.com/tnr435430.aspx?lan=1&art=4
U/12: http://chess-results.com/tnr435431.aspx?lan=1&art=4
U/10: http://chess-results.com/tnr435432.aspx?lan=1&art=4
U/8: http://chess-results.com/tnr435433.aspx?lan=1&art=1
Western Cape Women’s Open 2019
Womans Candidate Master Rebecca Selkirk of Stellenbosch won the Western Cape Women’s Open Chess Championship held over the weekend in Cape Town. She scored 5,5 points out of a possible 6 in a strong field which included 4 titled players. Second was Women International Master Anzel Laubscher with 5 out of 6. Women Candidate Master Michelle Fisher, of Maties, came in third also with 5 out of 6. WIM Laubscher was placed ahead of WCM Fisher because of better tie-break points.
WCM Selkirk only drew against WIM Anzel Laubscher on her way to the title. She defeated all her other opponents amongst others WCM Natasha Joubert in the final round. WCM Michelle Fisher drew against WCM Anzel Laubscher and Thea Koen for her 5 points.
The Stellenbosch players dominated the field of 41 women who took part in the Prestige and A sections of the tournament. The three medallists in the Prestige section of the tournament were all members of the South African Olympiad team that took part in Batumi, Georgia in September 2018.
Kamvalethu Mqikela took gold in the A section followed by WCM Natasha Joubert with the silver medal. Nhlanhla Maputa was third in this section.
Tamsan October was victorious in the B section of the tournament, with Anuschka Amsterdam in second place. Both won all their games. Samantha Rabkin won the bronze medal. The B section had 60 competitors.
WIM Anzel Laubscher, WCM Rebecca Selkirk, Kamvalethu Mqikela, Nhlanhla Maputa, Thea Koen (4thPrestige section), WCM Michelle Fisher, Ameera Yacoob (4thOpen section) and WCM Natasha Joubert.
Photo Credits - Flashlight Pictures
Cape Winelands Schools Chess Open
Cape Winelands literally took things to the Winelands – the 2019 Open Schools Tournament took place at Nederburg Wines.
Congratulations – Here is the “line-up” of medal winners!
Chess Calendar for 2019
Have a look at the Events Page on Chess Stellenbosch to get the latest dates and information about Chess Tournaments and Schools Events for the Stellenbosch area!
Compiled from Cape Winelands Schools Chess and Chess Western Province latest information received.
As always, please treat all dates and venues as provisional, until confirmed by the LOC or Organizers.
Stellenbosch Players Tops at Graham Solomon Blitz Tournament
Players from Stellenbosch Chess Club dominated the inaugural Graham Solomon Blitz and Rapid tournament held the past weekend in Cape Town.
IM Henry Steel won the tournament by obtaining a combined score of 18 points out of a possible 24. Steel was followed by GM Kenny Solomon, IM Watu Kobese and NM Stephan Wagner. Wagner is also from Stellenbosch.
The Graham Solomon Memorial Tournament was the strongest rapid and blitz tournament held in South Africa during the past year.
Stellenbosch players dominated the blitz section by clinching the top two positions. NM Stephan Wagner won this division, while IM Henry Steel took second spot. The time control for the blitz tournament was 5 minutes per player, with a further 3 seconds added to their time for each move, for the whole game. Stephan Wagner scored 9 out of a possible 12 points with 8 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in this division. One of his losses was to fellow Stellenbosch player IM Henry Steel. IM Steel also scored 9 points with 7 wins 4 draws and one loss. Wagner was awarded the top spot on the basis of tie-breaks in this division. IM Watu Kobese came in third with 8 points.
In the rapid section held on Saturday, IM Henry Steel won second spot with 4,5 points out of a possible 6.
The Rapid tournament was won by GM Kenny Solomon with 5 points out of 6. NM Stephan Wagner came in 9th in the rapid tournament with 3,5 points. The time control for the rapid tournament was 20 minutes per player for the whole game plus a further 10 seconds per move.
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Stellenbosch Chess Club host World Championship Talk
The most anticipated world chess championship contest of the 21st century got underway in London on 9 November 2018. The contestants are the reigning world chess champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway (who has successfully defended his title on two previous occasions) and the American challenger Fabiano Caruana. For the first time since the 1980s the battle for the domination of the chess world is between the two highest rated players. The challenger is also the first American since Bobby Fisher to play in a world championship match.
Dr Lloyd Hill of the Stellenbosch Chess Club gave a talk on the World match titled: The Millennial Grand Masters and 21st Century Chess hosted by the Club on Thursday evening 15 November 2018.
The talk was well attended and received, and led to some lively debate!
Stellenbosch Chess Club will be hosting more of these types of talks in the future. Thank you Dr Hill!
Western Cape Kings and Queens 2018
A number of Stellenbosch Schools Players took part in this year’s tournament as part of the Cape Winelands Teams.
Congratulations on your performances and medals!
Spot the familiar faces – with thanks to Lydia Palmer for the pics.
World Youth 2018
We are very proud of Alexander van der Merwe who took part in this year’s World Youth Chess Championships in Chalkidiki, Greece.
Paul Roos 2018 – prize giving ceremony
Well done to all!!
Chess Stellenbosch 