Category: stellenbosch chess club

Nelson Mandela Rapid 2019

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Fide Master Dante Beukes from Namibia won the fourth Nelson Mandela Rapid Chess Tournament on 2 March 2019 held at the Drakenstein Correctional facility with 4.5 out of a possible 5 points.   The Rapid Tournament is unique in that each player has 27 minutes to make all the moves in the game.  Each minute represents a year former President Mandela spent in prison. Michael James scored 4 points, which secured him the second position.  Heinrich Basson from the Stellenbosch Chess Club was placed third.  

Keegan Palmer of Paul Roos Gymnasium won the high school section of the tournament.  Thevan Keshan of Hugenote High School was placed second while Reagan Rass also from Paul Roos Gymnasium finished third.

Cheslin Palmer, the younger brother of Keegan, won the primary school section of the tournament.  Cuthanzario Winter scored 4 points to win second spot. Chulumanc Zungalafrom Ikaya Primary School won the bronze medal.

Front: Chulumanc Zungala, Cuthanzario Winter, Cheslin Palmer. Back:  Y Snyman (Correctional Services), Mr M Wiese (AVBOB), L de Jager (Arbiter)

From left: E Steenkamp (Pres WP Chess), C Maxwell (Pres CWC Chess), Y Snyman(Correctional Servicces), M James, H Basson, L de Jager, D Pick, FM D Beaukes, M Wiese (AVBOB) L de Jager (Arbiter)

Y Snyman (Correctional Services) R Rass, T Kheshan, K Palmer, M Wiese (AVBOB), L de Jager (Arbiter)

Salmo Cilliers (Stellenbosch High School) left against Heinrich Basson (Stellenbosch Chess Club).  In the back Luan de Jager (white pieces) and David Harris (black pieces).  Open section of the Nelson Mandela Rapid Tournament.

Chess Western Province Awards Ceremony

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Stellenbosch Chess Club received several awards during the Chess Western Province Award Ceremony for 2018, held at the Observatory Community Hall on Wednesday 6 February.  

The Stellenbosch A team won silver medals for the second place in the Premier Division of the Western Province Club League Championship of 2018.  They scored 17 match points and 51 game points.  The only match they lost was against Manyanani Chess Club.  The eventual winners were Steinitz Chess Club with 19 match points.  In their match Stellenbosch drew with Steinitz 4 – 4.  Daniel Frank also won the Board prize for Board 8 in the Premier Division.

The Stellenbosch D team won the bronze medal in the D Division with 15 match points and 42.5 game points.  Dayne Fraser, a pupil of Paul Roos Gymnasium, won the Board Prize for Board 5 in the E Division of the League.

The Western Province Club League Championship exists from 1907 and is the oldest and biggest Club League Competition on the African continent.  27 Chess Clubs with 66 teams took part in the Championship of 2018.  Stellenbosch, although geographically in the Cape Winelands, has always been part of the Western Province Club League Championship.  The last time Stellenbosch Chess Club won the Club League Championship was in 2008.

 

Chess Calendar for 2019

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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.

SAJCC 2018 Report

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Stellenbosch Learners and Stellenbosch Chess Club Players who took part in this past SAJCC in Boksburg as part of the Western Province Team, were:

U8A – Bronze
Israel Edwards (board prize)

U10A – Bronze
Cronan Willis, Reagan Samuels and Kayla van Schaik

U10B
Jarrod Roux

U10 Girls – Gold
Noreht Nieuwoudt (board prize)

U12A – Gold
Migael van Schaik

U12B – Silver
Jacobus Geyser and Earl Erasmus

U12 Girls – Gold
Robyn Skippers and Jamie Roux

U14A – Silver
Alexander van der Merwe (board prize), and Brett Williams (board prize)

U16B – Gold
Phillip Coetzee (board prize), and Dawid Nieuwoudt (board prize)

U20A – Silver
Andrew Flores-Bartoli, and Nathan Amsterdam (board prize)

Well done to all!!

Some pics from the prize giving – photo credits SAJCC Facebook page

Stellenbosch Players Tops at Graham Solomon Blitz Tournament

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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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