Kenya paired against powerhouse Russia in RD 1

Kenya faces Russia 5 in RD 5. Start time is today 3pm Kenya time. The encounter should prove a very tough challenge for Kenya as the Russia 5 team consists largely of juniors between the ages of 13-20 years who are on the upward swing and have been practising as recently as 2 weeks back in strong open tournaments in Western Europe. Russia 5 team line up is as follows:

1 IM Potapov Pavel 2464 RUS - AGE 20 Years
2 FM Kopylov Alexander A 2438 RUS - AGE 18 Years
3 Savitskiy Sergey 2373 RUS - AGE 15 Years
4 CM Yuffa Daniil 2235 RUS - AGE 13 Years
5 GM Prokopchuk Evgeny 2522 RUS (reserve) - AGE 32 years

The 13 year old Russian on Board 4 is an intriguing phenomenon. He started playing internationally 3 years ago and is on an upward swing. From his recent performance in the Czech International Open held only this month (which means he has had good warm up) the average rating of his opponents was ELO 2362 and he beat or drew with the following calibre of players:

FM Marcel Jorczik Elo 2389 (Beaten by Yuffa)
FM Manfred Heidrich Elo 2329 (Drew with Yuffa)
IM Atanu Lahiri Elo 2353 (Beaten by Yuffa)
FM Jiri Nun Elo 2362 (Drew with Yuffa)


Yuffa Daniil on the right in deep thought. Kenya Board 4 will be
taking on this young russian terror today at 3pm Kenya time.

It appears Yuffa's Elo rating (which jumped up by something like 50 plus elo points at the Czech International Open) of 2235 maybe misleading as he is playing better than that currently.

Fascinating battle in prospect and the Kenyan contingent must be feeling very privileged to be playing a Russian team on their homeground.

Chessdrum publish Dubai 'Airport Olympiad' photos

Chessdrum continues to outclass the big budget chess websites like Chessbase and Chessvibes by providing amazing Olympiad 2010 coverage. Here are latest photos direct from Dubai Airport as posted on Chessdrum...photos by Nigerian player Lekan Ayedemi:

The Airport Olympiad?

The chessdrum website (www.thechessdrum.net) is currently providing some of the best information regarding the situation at the Dubai Airport where a number of African teams are holed up. Chessdrum has been in communication with a number of local chess officials accompanying the team and the reports indicate that sections of the airport are swarming with chess battles.

Here is an excerpt from the chessdrum blog detailing an interesting exchange between a Botswana official and Chessdrum webmaster Dr. Daaim Shabaaz:

Just heard from Kenneth Boikhutswane of Botswana who is stranded in the Dubai Airport now…

10:45am Kenny
Hello Daaim! hope you well. You coming to the olympiad?

10:45am Daaim
No. I will not be there. Are you traveling today?

10:48am Kenny
Yeah. Stranded in Dubai airport. Our charter moved to tomorrow and we never received correspondence despite my follwoing up and them confirming that we on the Sunday charter. Got here 5am and we board tomorrow at 0930 for Khanty. Its s big inconvenience, not even sure that we on the 0930 charter despite them confirming again today by email that we on it. you can imagine what it does to the players, 28 hours in the airport!

10:49am Daaim
Yes… there were several changes.

So you cannot disembark? Too expensive?

10:52am Kenny
tried that roiute but way too expensive. would have had to pay visa each at U$157 dollars for 13 people. Hotel here at airport going at U$ 286 for two. There is no guarantee that if we paid we would get refunded despite claims to that, so we decided to play it safe

10:53am Daaim
Ridiculous.

I’m posting this on the blog.

10:54am Daaim
What other federations are there? I hear that the Kenyans are there.

10:56am Kenny
We have Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Burundi, Malawi, and two teams from Asia I have seen. There could be others around the airport i havent seen.

10:59am Kenny
Zambia had their letter infoeming them of the changes dated 16th Sept! I am concerned about whether we will have accomodation as per our payments, especially for the single rooms.

11:00am Daaim
It appears to be very disorganized. Keep me informed. Will you be sending stories to the news?

11:03am Kenny
I will sending out reports to bots on progress of Bots team, as I try to come out of ‘retirement’. I will send you reports as well

11:07am Daaim
I’m sorry to hear about the problems. I have been covering them on The Drum. I penned an essay about the potential problems.

11:10am Kenny
how on earth does someone change flight details 2 days prior to departure as if we are using a bus?its a shame really, coz changing tickets means more costs for federations. and with such a short timeframe, there isnt much one can do

ESPN to cover Team Uganda in Russia

New Vision and Chessdom are reporting that ESPN is going to exclusively cover the Ugandan National team at this years olympiad.

14 year old Phiona Mutesi who is a part of the ladies squad is going to be the focus of the ESPN attention.

Uganda have the strongest juniors in East Africa and this will be the first time for an African team to be covered by a big sports media organisation.

Team Kenya stranded in Dubai for 24hrs

The Kenyan contingent to the 2010 Russia Olympiad has not been spared the complexities of the ongoing FIDE Charter Flight scandal. Reports trickling in suggest the team has now been forced to spend 24hrs at the Dubai Airport whilst they wait for the next plane out. Kenyan super-talent Akello Atwoli who is tipped to produce a show-stopping performance alongside players like GM Morozevich and GM Ahmed Adly bluntly stated:

"CK (Chess Kenya) apparently recieved communication from FIDE informing them that our flight to Russia from Dubai had been rescheduled/postponed by 24hrs but they went ahead and brought us here as if nothing had changed. Because of their negligence and carelessness, we will now have to spend a whole 24 hours in the airport basically doing nothing other than sleeping on the floor."

However, it appears this is a world-wide problem as a number of local blogs from Europe to The Carribean to Asia are complaining about last minute changes in the charter flight timetables. Some federations are considering pulling out of the olympiad altogether whilst others have had to incur extra expense in order to sychronise their initial flights with the charter flight changes. It maybe that CK had no other option but to travel on the original date selected. Interestingly, one of Africa's most experienced olympians and Kenya Board 4 player John Mukabi states:

"Strangely enough only African teams are affected!"

The FIDE Charter Flight fiasco is largely considered a symptom of the mismanagement at the top by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The majority of African delegates are expected to vote in favour of the incumbent.

Africa: Too Much Voting Power In FIDE?

BY Daaim Shabaz

In the upcoming election for FIDE President, there has been a lot of talk about the voting structure of one-nation, one vote. This idea is in line with the democratic ideals of general bodies, but seems to have met the ire of chess pundits and commentators. READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN THE CHESS DRUM

Top 10

Here is a list of the top ten visiting nations to this blog in the last one month.

United States (US)	533
Kenya (KE)	334
United Kingdom (GB)	329
Canada (CA)	71
India (IN)	52
Germany (DE)	49
Nigeria (NG)	42
South Africa (ZA)	42
Sweden (SE)	35
France (FR)

Samuel Changole Chebii 1972-2010

Sammy centre a great chess enthusiast passed away on Sunday september 10 2010. RIP pal.

Magana Wins Crossroads Rapid

By Collins Young

Ben Magana and Akello Atwoli.

Kenyan Chess players were not left behind by the wave sweeping thecountry as we usher in a new dawn. Most of Kenya’s finestchessplayers gathered at Crossroads Inn in Nairobi’s Enterprise roadfor a rapid version of the noble game. The highly charged contestsgraced by the participation of the national team to the Chess Olympiad(read olympics) starting next week in Russia, saw former nationalchampion Ben Magana steal the show coming tops with 6.5 points out ofa possible seven.





Apparently Magana is semi retired and confessed tonot having practised the last few months; a fact that should worryother players. Following in joint second with 5.5points were SteveOuma and Moses Andiwo having travelled from Nakuru for the one dayevent. On joint forth with 5 points were veterans Martin Oyamo, JohnMukabi and fast rising youngster Mike Rua who had the honour ofscalping the reigning national champion Peter Gilruth in the finalround. The ladies crown was won by Rose Wabuti with Rehema Mariataking the runner –up position.





The tournament although having only 31 contestents was evidently oneof the strongest rapid play tourneys in recent times judging from thestrength of the field – at least 10 olympians former and currentincluding two members of the Kenyan ladies team to the RussianOlympiad. The tourney also saw a number of new faces an encouragingsign for a sport that is creaking from administrative neglect and lackof corporate sponsorship.





The event was the second in series organised by Checkmates ChessCluband private sponsors – mainly players who couldn’t stay for too longwithout chess action and have vowed to make this a monthly event.Other upcoming events on the local scene include a three-day long playevent to be held at the Mombasa Beach Hotel from Oct.9th – 11th, theongoing national league and the national championships provisionallyslated for the Jamhuri weekend in December.





For those not well acquainted with the game, in rapid chess eachplayer has 25 minutes on his clock to finish the game. That meansevery game lasts a maximum 50 minutes. What the time limits mean is ifyou run out of your time before your opponent you lose the game evenif you have more pieces on the board than your opponent.





Thisdiscourages players from thinking ‘forever ‘ . A longer version allowseach player up to two hours to make forty moves. It is the mode thatwill be used at the biennial olympiad where Kenyan teams (6 men & 4women) will compete for honours amongst 160 other national teams in a14 round tourney to run from Sept.19th- Oct 4th.

FIDE Rated Tournament In Kenya

The annual MOMBASA OPEN CHESS TOUNAMENT will be held on 9th 10th and11th October at Mombasa Beach Hotel. This will be the first time thata chess tournament is organized on a 5 star beach hotel in Kenya. Thetournament will be organized in two groups:

Group A: FIDE rated tournament with limited chances. All FIDE ratedplayers who pay will get a chance automatically whereas unratedplayers who pay first will be given a higher priority.Time controls: 2hrs

Group B: Open to all with unlimited chances.A guaranteed 1st prize of Ksh 30,000/= will be awarded in the FIDErated section.Attractive prizes will be announced later for the runner up and secondrunner up as well as for group B.The registration fee is Ksh 1000/=.

Kenyan Chess Moves Online

After the closure of Checkmates (the most popular and most active chess club in Kenya), the Kenyan chess scene has now moved online. Most mathches are now organized at playchess.com and the usual suspects are part of it; Mehul, Gtithinji and Soulman. New entrants include Andolo and quite a number of Ugandan players.

Karpov, Kasparov To Visit Angola

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Luanda — The great Russian masters of Chess, Antoli Karpov and Gary Kasparov are set to arrive in the country in the first week of September to take part in a forum dubbed "The Development of Chess in Africa".
The information was reported by the secretary-general of the Angolan Chess Federation (FAX), Abrão dos Reis. The mini-summit, according to that official, will also address the methods to support the candidature of the chairman of the Angolan Chess Federation, Aguinaldo Jaime, to one of the vice-presidencies of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
The candidacy of the great Russian master, Antoli Karpov to the future presidency of FIDE is also b discussed during the mini-summit to be held at one of the hotels of the country's capital city.
During the meeting, the chairman of the federations will also examine a single document aimed at granting unconditional support to the Russian candidate to the presidency of the ruling body of chess worldwide.

Obama, Clinton and Chess

Border Chess Team Prepares To Conquer South Africa

Original Article

By Atule Joka

BORDER Chess all divisions’ team looks set to be a team to beat at this year’s South African Junior Chess Championships to be held in December, in Pretoria.
The squad which consists of “approximately 70 players” according to their head coach Sven Stocklose, is undergoing meticulous training in various schools around East London. “Besides the two coaching sessions we have for each division every month, we have also lined up inter-provincial games against Eastern Province (EP) in October ahead of the tournament” said Stocklose.
The Border team did not fare well at last year’s tournament and their only highlight was the U/8 team who managed to finish eighth .
“This was the best considering the division they competed in, our U18’s managed to secure a silver medal but it was in the lower division” said Stocklose. Despite a multiple of senior teams in the squad it is surprisingly the U/10s that carry the burden of winning the coveted gold medal.
“I’m optimistic they could bring us the gold, they have matured and are playing the best chess of their lives”, said Stocklose of the team that mostly featured last year’s U/8 players.
Among Stocklose objectives for this year’s tournament is to see more players selected to the national squad. “I am optimistic we will perform better this year, but it will be great to have more of our players having South African colours”.
Rebecca Selkirk, who became the first Border player to receive national junior colours last year, and eventually went to represent South Africa at the Commonwealth Chess Tournament in Delhi, India, is expected to be a key member of the squad .
“Rebecca has participated in a number of international tournaments her experience will spur on the rest of the team and hopefully she will do well in team matches and will hold her own in individual matches” added Stocklose.

Joshua Colas

Original Article.

WHITE PLAINS — Chess prodigy Joshua Colas has already begun receiving help to fund his upcoming trip to Greece, where he has been invited to represent the United States in the "Boys 12 and Under" level at the World Youth Chess Championship in Halkidiki.

The White Plains Foundation for Public Education is accepting donations to help send Joshua and his father to Greece in October. Total expenses for the two-week tournament are estimated at $5,000. Donations will also help get Joshua a personal chess coach. A top-level coach, a grandmaster, is estimated to cost $7,500 to $10,000 per year.
Joshua also will appear on Fox TV's "Good Day New York" on Wednesday morning, when he will compete live against White Plains Middle School chess team co-captain Michael Ainsworth, 11, in "speed chess."
Joshua is the national champion in speed chess and is ranked No. 1 in the country, and Michael, son of Ray Ainsworth, the middle school's chess coordinator, is ranked in the top 20.
The elder Ainsworth received about 30 telephone calls last week from people looking to help Joshua achieve his goal of becoming the youngest African-American chess master in the world. The White Plains Rotary Club also is interested in Joshua's chess career and has reached out to Ray Ainsworth and the Colas family.
"We have gotten a very positive response overall," Ainsworth said.

Chess Puzzles

Some gems from chess curosities.

How many consecutive checks(both white and black) can you have in this position?

Can you find a proof game for the above position?

Bobby Fischer

By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN The New York Times

The life of Bobby Fischer was one strange odyssey, in which he went from chess prodigy -- at 14, the youngest U.S. champion ever -- to the vanquisher of the famed Boris Spassky in 1972 in a match followed around the world, to a fugitive from the United States on charges of violating a trade embargo against Yugoslavia, to an increasingly odd recluse, one who denounced Jews and praised the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Read more

More Chess Fun

Narrated Chess can be Hazardous to the Listener

Speaking as a fan and occasional player of the fascinating International Worldwide Game of Chess, I have a few observations to share.
First, let me say, for us chess fans, computers and the net have revolutionized our experience. My favorite is YouTube which carries wonderful videos made by good chess players who are also good communicators. The video reports of chess matches, classic games, and personal or locational sidelights are entertaining interesting and educational. A wonderful use of the YouTube medium. Read the full article

Chess Fun

Wole Soyinka Chess Tournament

Nigerian literaly icon and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka

By Niyi Alebiosu,

Lagos Monday, 19 July 2010

The Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF) has earmarked $100,000 (about N15million) as prize money for the maiden edition of Wole Soyinka International Master Chess tournament to commemorate the 77th birthday anniversary of the Nobel laureate next year.

The tournament which is being initiated by Vice Admiral Jubril Ayinla, (Rtd) Dr. Silvanus Ebigwe, Theophilus Caiafas, Professor Abisogun Leighh, Chief Dave Irabor and the incumbent President of NCF, DCP Sani Mohammed is scheduled to hold from July 10 to 17, 2011 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

Speaking at a media parley in Lagos, Vice Admiral Ayinla said that the tournament would also have a Master Section.

FIDE 2010 Elections:Karpov Vs Kirsan

An intense but interesting fight expected in forthcoming Fide presidential election.
COME this September, we shall see what will possibly be the most acrimonious presidential contest for the World Chess Federation (Fide) for a long while.

Lining up on one side of the contest is the incumbent president of the world body, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is seeking re-election since first getting elected to the top post in 1995. On the other side is his very worthy opponent, former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov.
When nominations closed at the end of last month for the submission of electoral tickets, the only two teams that met the deadline were that of Ilyumzhi­nov and Karpov. This means that they will go head-to-head in a direct clash of wills and personality that will see no compromise from either party.

Lined up on Ilyumzhinov’s team are Georgios Makropoulos, Ignatius Leong, Nigel Freeman, Beatriz Marinello and Lewis Ncube.
Makropoulos is the president of the Greek Chess Federation but he is also the Fide deputy president (since 1996). Leong has been the president of the Singapore Chess Federation and the Fide general secretary since 2005. Freeman, the president of the Bermuda Chess Federation, is the current Fide treasurer, a position he has held since 2006. Marinello is a former president of United States Chess. NCube is a former president of the Zambia Chess Federation and presently a Fide vice-president (since 2006).

All of them, except for Marinello, are seeking to be returned to the same positions they are currently holding in the federation while Marinello is seeking to fill a Fide vice-president’s slot.
Karpov’s ticket consists of Richard A. Conn Jr of the United States who is the candidate for deputy president, Ukrainian Chess Federation president Viktor Kapustin who is the candidate for treasurer, Malaysia’s own Abdul Hamid Majid who is the candidate for secretary general, and the two candidates for vice-presidents, Angolan Chess Federation president Dr Aguinaldo Jaime and woman grandmaster Alisa Maric who is also the vice-president of the Belgrade Chess Federation.

As I said earlier, this Fide election may be the most acrimonious in recent years. For the first time in many years, Ilyumzhinov faces a very serious opponent. The credentials of Anatoly Karpov speak for itself. People know him as the 12th world chess champion, having succeeded Bobby Fischer in 1974 and only giving up his world title to Garry Kaspa­rov in 1985. Truly, he is one of the greatest chess players of all time.

However, Karpov’s very attempt at becoming the next Fide president has been full of obstacles, not least from within Russia itself. This is because Fide regulations require all candidates to be nominated by their own chess federations, and only one candidate at any one time.
And therein lies the problem because both Ilyumzhinov and Karpov are from Russia. The problem became even more complicated after both of them claimed to have their federation’s nod.

According to reports, the Russian Chess Federation had narrowly nominated Karpov as its candidate at a meeting in May. A few days later, at another meeting which was purportedly just shy of a quorum, Ilyumzhi­nov was nominated. The sticky situation became more absurd when the Russian Government sacked the president of the Russian Chess Federation and installed someone else to look after the federation’s affairs.

Lawsuits have also been flying around from both parties. Earlier, Ilyumzhinov had sued Karpov for libel. The former world champion fought back with a suit to force Fide to disclose the nomination forms of Ilyumzhinov’s team. At the heart of the matter was the status of Marinello because it was claimed that she was not a member of either the Chilean or Brazilian chess federations.

If the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, rules in Karpov’s favour, it could mean the automatic disqualification of the whole of the Ilyumzhinov ticket because there’s also another Fide regulation that stipulates that at least one member of a ticket must be a woman candidate. It would be impossible for Ilyumzhinov to replace Marinello at the last minute.
In the meantime, both candidates are continuing to circle the globe to visit national chess federations and drum up support for their teams at the Fide election in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. Yes, it’s going to be an intense but interesting fight indeed.

Vacancy: Chess Job

From The New York Times

Here’s a job that doesn’t come around everyday. The Peace Corps is seeking a chess coordinator to work in Saint Lucia, the island nation in the Caribbean. The job begins in August and runs for 12 months.
Candidates need to have at least intermediate chess skills, good communication skills, basic computer skills and experience creating community programs.
The job description seems to have been written by a true chess enthusiast:

Saint Lucia faces many challenges including unemployment, crime, and an under-educated population. It is unrealistic to expect any one program to fix all of these issues. However, it is obvious that the country would benefit from a giant infusion of self-discipline, strategic thinking, and increased self esteem. Surprisingly, the beginning of change for this small country of 150,000 people and 238,000 square miles may be connected to a classic game. The needed change may start with the children who take to the game with unbelievable enthusiasm and then spill over to the tight knit communities where they live. The game is chess.

There is no mention of salary, but the job will obviously have a few unusual perks. Anybody want to apply?

"Simutowe Is Africa's Pride"

GABONESE Chess Federation president Bongo Akanga has described Zambian chess sensation Amon Simutowe as Africa's pride.Speaking ahead of the 2010 FIDE Africa seminar, Akanga said the event should be used as a revival of the continentís chess fortunes."Simutowe is a good chess player who has made Africa proud. It is a good thing for the continent," he said.Akanga expressed delight at the presence of FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for the four-day seminar."This is a very important seminar for Africa as we are going to be with the FIDE president during the deliberations," he said.The four-day event will draw participation from 20 African countries affiliated with the World Chess Federation.Akanga said Gabon shared a mixed football history with Zambia."We have an interesting history with Zambia; they beat us at the Africa Cup and their players died in our country," he said.

Fischer's Body Exhumed

(Reuters) - The body of former chess champion Bobby Fischer, who died in Iceland two years ago, has been exhumed to provide forensic evidence in a paternity suit, the police said on Monday.
Iceland's Supreme Court ruled in favor of the exhumation in mid-June, overturning the decision of a lower court to deny an earlier request.
In its ruling, the top court said tissue samples were needed to determine the paternity of Jinky Young, the Filipina daughter of Fischer's former lover. Young provided a DNA sample last year during a trip to Iceland.
"This (exhumation) was performed this morning in accordance with the order from the Supreme Court," said Olafur Helgi Kjartansson, chief of police in the southwestern town of Selfoss, where the chess champion was buried.
Fischer, who spent his last years as a fugitive from U.S. authorities because he defied international sanctions against the former Yugoslavia, spent time in the Philippines and Japan before moving to Iceland, where he was offered citizenship in the mid-2000s.
The former child prodigy became the United States' only world chess champion by defeating Soviet masters, but refused to defend his title and relinquished it to the Soviet champion Anatoly Karpov in 1975.
His estate, estimated at around $2 million, has been the subject of a long-running inheritance dispute involving claims by a former wife, two nephews and the U.S. tax authorities.
Fischer died in Reykjavik at the age of 64 after an unspecified illness and was buried near the town of Selfoss, about 60 km (40 miles) east of Reykjavik, in 2008.

Queens' Gambit

Queen Elizabeth shows President Zuma a chess set given to her by Nelson Mandela.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Blows A Vuvuzela.

FIDE President, Head of Republic of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov blows the now famous Vuvuzela.

FIDE President In Africa

From left to right: General Secretary of Kenya Chess Federation Lawrence KAGAMBI, FIDE President and the Chairman of Kenya Chess Federation Andolo AMBASI

On the 7th of July FIDE President, Head of Republic of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov continued his visit to Zambia. He held the working meetings with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Zambia, Mr. Boris Malakhov, the embassy staff, and the permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Sport, Youth and Child Development, Mr. Teddy Mulonga. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov also spoke at the Administrators seminar for the leaders of African Chess Federations, opened simultaneous game which was continued by GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili. As part of this forum, FIDE President met and discussed the numerous issues of chess development in the African continent with the leaders of chess federations of Malawi, Botswana, Seychelles Islands, Madagascar, Sao Tome and Principe, Rwanda, Burundi, etc.

World Cup South Africa 2010

June 11 to July 11 2010

Mehul Wins Madaraka Day Rapid Tournament

The inform Mehul Gohil won the madaraka day rapid tournament held on 1st june at the Crossroads Inn. The somali contigent was also represented for the second tournament in a row.

Mehul Gohil

By George Mwangi.


The madaraka day event took off as scheduled .In a nutshell,Mehul had everyone for b/fast and lunch,congrats once again.



The veterans Khaduli and Kanegeni also had a good show with 6.0 and 5.0 respectively.Also joint with kanegeni at third place were new chess players in the scene, Molid and Hussein,also with 5.0 points.The Atwoli, Obutu and Steve did not perform as well as they usually do.


The Crossroads Inn hosts came through with their promise for free Mbuzi which the chess players devoured with pleasure. They did one better and offered to have us if an arrangement for a win-win situation can be arrived at.


All in all the 25 participants had a good tournament to keep them busy on a holiday.Checkmates chess club is grateful to all those who made the event happen especially the hosts,crossroads, and CK ,for the equipment.Hope to have all of you in bigger tournaments in future.



The Delecious Nyama Choma Offered for lunch.

Results


MEHUL GOHIL 6.5


LARRY KHADULI 6.0


KANEGENI MATHEW 5.0


HUSSEIN 5.0


RICKY SANG 5.0


MOLID 5.0


STEVE OUMA 4.0


WYCLIFFE OBUTU 4.0


SAMUEL MAKUMI 4.0


MARTIN OYAMO 4.0


JACKTON MONY 4.0


DUNCAN MUKONYI 4.0


MAHAT 3.5


AKELLO ATWOLI 3.5


COLLINS YANG 3.0


FRANCIS NGESA 3.0


ISAAC MUKOKO 3.0


LARRY KAGAMBI 3.0


MATTHEW KIAMA 3.0


VINCENT NGENO 3.0


GEORGE MATHEA 2.5


AMOS SIMIYU 2.0


ANTONY STANLEY 2.0


KASSIM AHMED 2.0


ROSE CHEMIAT 1.0

The Lady Who Defeated Nigel Short

GRACE KIGENI

Capt. Arthur Macaspac Wins USARMY Chess Championships.

Capt. Arthur Macaspac

FORT MYER, Va.

Capt. Arthur Macaspac needed a little help from a few new friends to win his third crown at the 2010 All-Army Chess Championships.
In the final round of the six-day, 11-round tournament at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, ninth-place finisher Maj. Larry Cox Jr. upset top-seeded and runner-up finisher Spc. Pieta Garrett to open the door for Macaspac.
“I had already won my final game so he had a little pressure,” Macaspac described Garrett’s losing move in the most important match of the tourney. “He hung a piece - very unusual for a chess master. Instead of capturing with a queen, he captured with a rook and he left his unsupported rook possible to attack.
“I saw it unfold.”
Garrett, who finished third here last year and first in the 2009 Inter-Service Chess Championships, quickly realized that his game had gone awry.
“I had a good game and he was putting up a little bit of a fight, but I got around the obstacles and then I finally got into position where I had a big edge,” explained Garrett, 24, of Fort Polk, La. “Then he just got a simple little trick on me and I completely blundered. I dropped a simple little tactic, and after that I was dead lost.
“It just goes to show that you’re never out. I was really confident. Then I played it and my heart dropped.”
Macaspac captured his third All-Army championship with nine victories, one loss and a draw for a total of 9.5 points. Garrett (8.5) finished second, followed by Spc. Nathaniel Rockhill (7.5) of the 38th Division Band in Indianapolis, Sgt. Jhonel Baniel (7.0) of Landstuhl, Germany, Pfc. Ismael Pagan (6.5) of Fort Irwin, Calif., and Staff Sgt. Andre Paradela (6.0) of Dublin, Calif.

Bill Hook(1925-2010)

Bill Hook

Bill Hook the man who denied kenya a Gold medal in the 1982 olympiad, died recently in his home at Maryland. Hook played with the legendary Saif Kanani in the last round of the 1980 olympiad in Malta.

Hook,William (2210) – Kanani,Saif 06.12.1980

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c5 3.d5 Qb6 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Nbd7 6.Rb1 a6 7.a4 h6 8.Be3 Qb4 9.f3 Ne5 10.Bd2 Qb6 11.f4 Ng6 12.Bd3 Bg4 13.Qc1 Bd7 14.e5 dxe5 15.Bxg6 fxg6 16.fxe5 0-0-0 17.exf6 exf6 18.Nge2 Bg4 19.Be3 Bxe2 20.Kxe2 Qb4 21.Re1 Bd6 22.h3 g5 23.Kf1 g4 24.hxg4 h5 25.g5 h4 26.Bf2 h3 27.gxh3 Rxh3 28.Re4 Qa5 29.Qd1 f5 30.Rh4 Rxh4 31.Bxh4 Qb4 32.Bf2 Qf4 33.Qh5 g6 34.Qh4 Qd2 35.Re1 Bf4 36.Rd1 Bxg5 37.Rxd2 Bxh4 1-0.

Nigel Short Defeated By An Amatuer Lady In Uganda!

Nigel Short

British Grandmaster and fomer world champion contender Nigel Short lost one game in his 25 game simul in Kampala on Thursday. Short played 25 games of which he won 20, drew 4 and lost 1 to Grace Kigeni in a Siccilian Najdorf.

Short is visiting Uganda as part of the Karpov campaign to head the world chess governing body FIDE.

Nigel Short To Campaign For Karpov In Uganda

After visiting Kenya a few years ago for holiday, Nigel Short will be back in East Africa to campaign for Antoly Karpov.

Nigel Short

By Douglas Mazune

THE race for the world chess governing body, FIDE Presidency has presented Ugandans with a lifetime opportunity to play against renowned British Grandmaster Nigel Short in Kampala. Nigel, who arrives today, will play exhibition games with several local players as he seeks Uganda’s vote for GM Anatoly Karpov in the election that will be held at the World Olympiad in Russia. Karpov face the incumbent president Kirsan Illumzyinhov.

A press release issued by Uganda Chess Federation (UCF) publicity Vianney Luggya said that the exhibition games are scheduled for tomorrow and Nigel will depart on Friday. Nigel, who challenged former World Champion Garry Kasparov for the world title in 1993, is regarded as the strongest British player of the 20th Century. He will be the first Grandmaster to visit Uganda and play chess with locals in the history of the game in the country. Nigel is a world acclaimed chess columnist, coach and commentator.

He has an International FIDE rating of 2685 and is ranked number 38 in the world. “His visit to Uganda is also meant to rally support for his preferred candidate GM Anatoly Karpov who is standing against Kirsan,” Luggya said. The venue for the exhibition games and the players that will be lined up against Nigel were yet to be named.

Rebecca Selkirk Wins In South Africa

Rebbeca Selrik

AN EAST London schoolgirl jetted off to India on Friday to represent South Africa at an international chess tournament.Grade 11 Hudson Park High pupil Rebecca Selkirk, 16, the first Border player to receive national junior colours, will be representing South Africa at the Commonwealth Chess Tournament in Delhi . Later this year she jets off to Greece and Botswana for more international tournaments.
Her selection comes after she took part in the South African Junior Closed Tournament in Pretoria last month and walked away with second place in the under 18 girls’ section.

Speaking to the Dispatch before she left for India, Selkirk said she was happy to be given an opportunity to be part of the South African team . “It came as a surprise. I still do not believe it; especially being selected for two other tournaments later in the year,” she said. Selkirk said her love for chess had been motivated by her sister and brother who played chess at primary school. She was later encouraged by a teacher at Hudson Park Primary School, Olwyn Swart. “I carried on with it until today. I did not look back and I don’t think I will ” she said. Since December last year, the teenager has played more than 50 local and national championship games – with some lasting more than four hours.


In December, she played in the South African Individual Junior Chess Championships, where she finished sixth in the under-18 and under-20 girls’ sections. Her victory at the individual championship gained a direct invitation to the South African Closed Tournament . When Selkirk isn’t playing championship matches, she keeps herself busy with league games, coaching new players and learning new strategies to outplay opponents.


“What I like about it is that one learns new skills every day, but I always believe it just needs concentration,” she said. Border Chess Union head coach and development officer Sven Stocklose said Selkirk was the first player from Border to receive full South Africa colours . “She is a very determined, humble young lady with a never-say-die attitude, hard working and she participates in every tournament she is able to,” he said.



Stocklose said he wished her every success in the tournament in India and for the ones coming later in the year. “I am confident that she will again make us proud,” said Stocklose. Father Wayne Selkirk said the family was proud of his daughter’s achievements. “Notwithstanding her achievements, she still makes time to fulfil her responsibilities at school and at home. She deserves to be given the opportunity to represent South Africa.” Selkirk returns from India on May 21 and is expected to attend two other tournaments, in Botswana in August and the World Youth Games in Greece in October

Chess Summer

By Matt Rosse ( Oxford Times)

It was widely regarded as a mistake for Vishy Anand to agree to play BulgarianVeselin Topalov in Sofia. Last week, however, after a thrilling climax , the Indian, Anand, had won through. Exciting news is that it is widely predicted Anand’s next title defence will be against Norwegian Magnus Carlsen in London in 2012.

Chess is a full-time job for the likes of Anand, Topalov and Carlsen but for some Oxfordshire players, this weekend’s Town versus Gown match will be the last chess they play until the new season starts in October. Others will have already boxed away their pieces and will not give chess a further thought until autumn. For those who want to improve, it would be a pity not to make use of the summer break for study.

Do not presume this just means work on openings — even though such learning can bring instant results. There are many roads to improvement, and studying endings can be as important as tweaking one’s opening repertoire.

To me though, the average club player’s most glaring deficiency is in tactical ability and one of the fastest ways to improve this aspect of one’s game is to play online speed chess.
Then again, there are the games collections which populate every keen player’s shelves and which represent the other, more civilized, end of chess education.

In grandmaster Danny Gormally’s entertaining and recently published book for Everyman Chess, Play Chess like the Pros, the author notes that world-class players “have a far greater knowledge of chess culture and history”. With this in mind, a study of any of Kasparov’s My Great Predecessors series would undoubtedly improve the club player’s results.

Neil McDonald’s The Giants of Power Play is another recently published book which draws upon the works of the past masters. His earlier work Giants of Strategy had used the games of Kramnik, Karpov, Petrosian, Capablanca and Nimzowitsch. In contrast, Power Play concentrates on the more dynamic play of Topalov, Geller, Bronstein, Alekhine and Morphy. McDonald is one of my favourite chess authors and is here erudite and entertaining; but does not pitch as high as Kasparov and this book might better suit the average player. McDonald calls the following 150-year-old classic “a wonderful, if lightweight game”.

White: Paul Morphy Black: Duke of Brunswick and Count of Isouard

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4?! 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3! Qe7 8.Nc3 White could have grabbed a pawn with 8.Qxb7, answered by 8…Qb4+, after which Morphy would have won a long endgame and the game would have been forgotten.
8...c6 9.Bg5 b5? McDonald calls 9...b6 the ‘most solid’ of Black’s alternatives.
10.Nxb5! cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.0–0–0 Rd8 13.Rxd7! Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 16.Qb8+! Nxb8 17.Rd8 1-0.

Angola, Potugal Sign Chess Agreement

Luanda – The Angolan Chess Federation (FAX) and its Portuguese counterpart (FPX) are expected to sign on Wednesday, in Luanda, a co-operation protocol in the training fields with Portuguese experts and exchange of experience in training centres.

This was said to ANGOP on Tuesday by the secretary-general of FAX, Abraão dos Reis.

Abraão dos Reis said that the chairman of the Portuguese Chess Federation, Jorge Antão, is in Luanda for this purpose.
The accord, whose period of validity is undetermined, will be signed before the last round of the CUCA international chess tournament that is taking place in Luanda.

Can Chess Be Solved

by rjlipton

Computers play great chess—can they play perfect chess?

Ken Thompson is one of the co-inventors of UNIX, perhaps one of the greatest programmers who ever lived, and won the 1983 Turing Award for his important work.
Today I plan on having a guest author, Ken Regan, discuss Thompson’s work on chess playing programs. It is Ken on Ken, or rather Ken on : when Ken (Regan), played at the Westfield (NJ) chess club as a teen in matches against distant clubs, he knew Ken (Thompson) not by his famous programming handle but as the “club techie” who relayed his moves by telex.

I once visited Bell Labs and spent some time talking to Ken T. on his chess program. I asked why he was doing so well—his program was winning a lot. He said his program had, probably, fewer bugs than the competition. In those early days chess programs were often buggy, and a program with a bug is likely to be a program with a chess weakness. The reason, Ken T. explained the programs were so hard to get right was simple: All chess programs looked at a huge set of positions and then generated one move. As long as the move was legal the programmer had no idea the program had made an error—unless the move led to an unexpected loss.
The rest of this is the work of Ken R., who by the way is an international master with a rating of over 2400. With, of course, lots of help from Subruk. READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Checkmates Chess Club Maybe Closed Down!!

The most famous and active chess club in Kenya, Checkmates chess club maybe closed by the end of the month.

Members of checkmates club, (Sitting) Mehul Gohil, Ben Nguku (standing from Right) Ben Magana, Githinji Hinga, Philiph Singe and Akello Atwolli.

By Githinji Hinga

I know this may round like a bad joke, but its serious as a heart attack. Downtown Pub, the home of checkmates club is set to close down in less than a fortnight from now.I had been getting subtle hints for awhile only for Willy, pub manager, to confirm this on Monday evening.We met up with George Mwangi and Willy on Tuesday lunch and agreed he should get contacts and details of the landlord, with an aim of finding out what options are available to keep the place running.

Its important to note, at this time, we got the impression that the owner,mama, had surrendered the place and was not interested.This led to a meet with the landlords' agent yesterday, with Purity,Esther and I in attendance. Basically, we were made to understand they are toying with the idea of converting the place into offices but could also entertain the idea of keeping it 'As Is' but with a new tenant and new terms. He agreed to have a more conclusive stance in our next meeting of 26th. A day after the handover and assessment of the premises.For now, that's the info I have. Looks grim but am sure we can find away out of this one. They say, many heads are better than one, now imagine many chesser heads.

From Famer To Chess Champion

ByAnupma Tripathi, Hindustan Times

Zambia has produced just one Grandmaster so far, but this little fact hasn't deterred Zambians from taking up chess and dreaming of making it big one day.
Phiri Richmond, from the Zambian capital Lusaka, is one such dreamer. He is here to participate in the Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship.

Born to a family of farmers, the 22-year-old is the youngest of seven siblings. "My family grows and keeps all kind of stuff," says Richmond.
"From keeping pigs, to growing tomatoes, bananas, peas, baby corn and other vegetables."
By his own admission, coming to India and playing the Championship wouldn't have been possible, had it not been for his sponsors who spotted him at the African Ch’ship in 2006. " I finished third in the championship. Later, the Green Eagles Club approached me and I grabbed the offer," said the Zambian champion, who has an ELO rating of 2165.

There's been no looking back for Richmond. In 2006, he clinched gold at the Chess Olympiad in Turin. The African won the 'junior champion' title for two consecutive years (2007-08) and claimed the national championship in 2008.

Interestingly, none of his siblings play chess. But at this point, Richmond is quick to add, " The important thing is they don't stop me from playing either. I remember, in 2004 I was about to quit school for the love of the game. But my parents asked me to quit chess instead. They wanted me to concentrate on studies. That was a difficult experience."
He belongs to Zambia's 'Chewa' tribe, and fluent in the tribal dialect. When asked to say something in his native tongues, Richmond rattles off a line that translates into, " Wait for me. I can make it big."

Kenyan Chess Olympiad History:1980-Corrections

After i posted my article a few corrections and clarifications have emerged. Saif Kanini lost his passport and was unable to play in the first 2 rounds and on round 14 Kanini could just have skipped the round and walk away with a gold medal! for no one could surpass his 86% score. Part 2 on the 1982 olympiad will be posted this week, send your photos and comments.

Kenyan Chess Olympiad History:1980

As a build up to the 39th Chess Olympiad to be held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Kenyan chess blog will be running a fifteen part series of articles about Kenyan chess history in the Olympiad since 1980.

PART One(1980)

By Edwin Korir

Background



The tournament was held from 20th November to 6th December 1980 in the city of La Valletta, Malta. Malta was rewarded to host the 24th Chess Olympiad for its efforts to maintain unity and peace within the FIDE, following the successive Haifa events and the shuttle peace talks by Malta’s representative between the late Harry Golombek (UK) and Libya where the Counter Olympiad had taken place. This was the first time ever that the greatest chess-team manifestation, the 1980 Olympiad, was held in such a small state with a limited budget but nonetheless a great history. A small island in the middle of the Mediterranean with a language of its own, Malta has been participating in International Chess since the 1930’s. It welcomed Alexander Alekhine in 1935 and before World War II had already fielded two Maltese Nationals in Foreign International Events. The playing conditions at the Mediterranean Conference Center were excellent. The players were all comfortably playing in one huge hall whereas the Congress was held in the large theater under the same roof surrounded by the other smaller halls where the other Committees took place. Accommodation and transport were fairly efficient. 83 nations were represented with for the first time under the same roof Israel and Libya, USSR and China!




KENYAN TEAM

Saif Kanini 9.5/12

Adan Aslam 4.5/11

K Donde 1/6

Yongo 5/12

Edwin Kinyajui 4.5/11

S Oulo 0/4




The Kenyan team to the 24th chess Olympiad consisted of Saif Kanini(chessleo), Adan Aslam, Ken Yongo, Ken Donde, Edwin Kinyanjui (1st reserve) and Ken S. Oulo(2nd reserve). Kenyan chess governing body had recently been affiliated with FIDE, other countries that had recently joined include Antigua, Brunei, Egypt, Kenya, Senegal and Zimbabwe thus increasing the number of affiliated nations to 114. Saif Kanini playing on board one scored the highest position ever achieved by a Kenyan when he won silver with a score of 9.5/12. He won 9, drawed 3 and lost 1. His tournament performance rating was 2402. Kenya emerged at position 70 with a score of 14.5/56 after winning 18, drawing 13 and losing 25. The second best Kenyan was Edwin Kinyanjui at position 34 (+3=5-5), he was followed by Adan Aslam at position 59 (+2=5-4). Yongo (+4=2-6) and Donde (+1=0-5) followed. S Oulo who was second reserve scored a miserable +0=0-4.

Bobby Fishers score sheet in a previous Olympiad

ROUND ONE
KENYA(0) MONGOLIA(4)

The David-Goliath parings of round one was not favourable to Kenya. The top two Kenyans Saif kanini and Adan Aslam did not play in this round but were replaced by the reserves. This was due to Kanini loosing his passport on his way to Malta.

Ken Yongo(0) Myagmarsuren(1)

Peruv Yumurbator(1) Ken Donde(0)

Edwin Kinyanjui(0) Peruv Jigjidsuren(1)

Lhagua Jambaidoo(1) Ken Oulo(0)


[White "Yongo KEN"] [Black "Myagmarsuren, Lhamsuren MGL"][Result "0-1"][Date "1980.11.20"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.O-O a6 10.a4 Re8 11.Re1 Nbd7 12.Bf4 Qc7 13.Qc2 Nh5 14.Be3 Ne5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Rf1 Nf4 17.g3 Nxd3 18.Qxd3 Qe7 19.f3 f5 20.Rae1 fxe4 21.fxe4 b5 22.Qd2 Bh3 23.Rf2 Qd7 24.Ne2 bxa4 25.Bf4 Bh8 26.Nc3 Bd4 27.Be3 Bxc3 28.Qxc3 Rxe4 29.Rf4 Rae8 30.Bd2 Rxe1+ 31.Bxe1 Qe7 32.Bd2 Qe2 33.Qf3 Qxd2 34.Re4 Qc1+ 0-1

ROUND TWO
KENYA(0.5) MALTA(3.5)

After the round one humiliation Kenya scored its first draw aganaist the home country. Ken Yongo was the man who scored the points. The top two pair of Kanini and Aslam did not still play so the two reserves got their chance to play.

Wilfred Attard(0.5) Ken Yongo(0.5)

Ken Donde(0) Henry Camilleri(1)

Andriano Gounder(1) Edwin Kinyanjui(0)

Ken Oulo(0) Joseph Gauici(1)

[White "Gouder, Adriano MLT"][Black "Kinyanjui, Edwin KEN"][Result "1-0"][EventDate "1980.11.20"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 Nc6 7.Be3 e6 8.O-O Qc7 9.Kh1 Be7 10.f4 O-O 11.Qe1 b5 12.a3 Bb7 13.Bd3 Rfe8 14.Qg3 Bf8 15.e5 dxe5 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 17.fxe5 Nh5 18.Qg5 g6 19.Bf4 Qb7 20.Rae1 Nxf4 21.Rxf4 Rac8 22.Be4 Be7 23.Qg3 Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Rxc2 25.Qf3 Qc6 26.Rxf7 Rc1 27.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 28.Qf1 Qxb2 29.Nd6 Bxd6 30.exd6 Qxa3 31.d7 Rf8 32.Rxf8+ Qxf8 33.Qxf8+ Kxf8 34.d8=Q+ 1-0

[White "Oulo, S. KEN"][Black "Gauci, Joseph MLT"][Result "0-1"][ECO "B52"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.O-O Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.Re1 e6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5 Ng8 11.a3 Nge7 12.Ng5 h6 13.Nf3 h5 14.Ng5 Nf5 15.Be3 Be7 16.Nf3 Bd8 17.b4 Bb6 18.Qd3 Rc8 19.Nbd2 Bd8 20.Nb3 b6 21.Rec1 Nxe3 22.fxe3 O-O 23.Qb5 Nxe5 24.Qxd7 Rxc1+ 25.Nxc1 Nxd7 26.Nd3 b5 27.Rc1 Nb6 28.Kf2 Nc4 29.Rc3 Bf6 30.Nc5 Rc8 31.Nd7 Be7 32.Nde5 f6 33.Ng6 Kf7 34.Nf4 g6 35.h4 Nd6 36.Rxc8 Nxc8 37.Ne1 Nd6 38.Ned3 Nc4 39.Nc5 Bxc5 40.dxc5 Nxa3 41.Nd3 Nc4 42.Ke2 0-1

ROUND THREE
KENYA(1.5) HONKONG(2.5)

The gradual rise of Kenya in terms of points countinued in round three. Saif Kanini entered the fray to score the first win for Kenya. Adam Aslam did not play in this round but was deputised by Edwin Kinyanjui who scored the half a point.

Kanani Saif(1) Kan Wai Shui(0)

Chao Philip(1) Yongo KEN(0)

Donde KEN(0) Luk Luen Wah(1)

Camm M(0.5) Kinyanjui Edwin(0.5)





ROUND FOUR
KENYA(1.5) ANGOLA(2.5)

Edwin Kinyanjui was the sole point winner for Kenya in this round with Kanini drawing. Aslam played his first game while Dode rested. Kinyanjui after the win had scored a respectable 1.5/4. Donde rested for nearly the rest of the tournament probably due to ilness.

Kanani, Saif(0.5) Fonseca de Oliveira, Mario Silas(0.5)

Adao Domingos, Agostinho(1) Adam, Aslam(0)

Kinyanjui Edwin(1) Ferreira, Rogerio(0)

Marques Alves, V(1) Oulo S. KEN(0)

[White "Kanani, Saifudin KEN"] [Result "1/2-1/2"][Date "1980.11.23"]

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.Qe2 Nf6 9.Rd1 e5 10.h3 O-O 11.Be3 Be6 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.Rac1 Rc8 14.b4 a6 15.b5 axb5 16.Qxb5 Qe8 17.Qb3 Qd7 18.Ng5 Nd8 19.Na4 Rc6 20.Nc5 Rxc5 21.Rxc5 h6 22.Nf3 Qe8 23.Rc7 Nxe4 24.Qb4 Nf6 25.Nxe5 Nd5 26.Rxd5 exd5 27.Rxe7 Qxe7 28.Ng6 Qf6 29.Nxf8 Kxf8 30.Qd2 Qe6 31.Qa5 Ke7 32.Bd4 g6 33.Qc7+ Qd7 34.Bf6+ Ke8 35.Bxd8 Qxd8 36.Qxb7 Qg5 37.Qb2 Qe5 38.Qd2 g5 39.Kf1 Kd7 40.Qc2 Qa1+ 41.Ke2 Qe5+ 42.Kd1 Qd4+ 43.Kc1 Qa1+ 1/2-1/2

ROUND FIVE
KENYA(2) MONACO(2)

As kenya dropped down in the Swiss system, their games were bound to get easier. Kenyas next oppoents were the kingdom of Monaco; more known for Formula One than chess. The top two scored the points for kenya.

Caruana, Marcel(0) Kanani, Saifudin(1)

Adam, Aslam(1) Negro, Roberto(0)

Girault, Eric(1) Yongo K(0)

Kinyanjui, Edwin(0) Lepine, Robert(1)

The tournament Logo

ROUND SIX
KENYA(3.5) UGANDA(0.5)

The two East African neighbours met in round six. Kenyans ran rout aganaist Uganda with only Kinyanjui dropping half a point.

Kanani Saif(1) Zabasajja, Willy(0)

Musasira O(0) Adam, Aslam(1)

Yongo K(1) Mungyereza Amos(0)

Kamuhangire Silver(0.5) Kinyanjui Edwin(0.5)

ROUND SEVEN
KENYA(2) LIBERIA(2)

At the halfway stage the bottom teams were now battling it out at the lower boards. Kenya's next opponents Liberia, were the second in three consecutive games aganaist African countries. Kanini continued with his exraordinary perfomance in board one.

Hingary, M(0) Kanani Saif(1)

Adam, Aslam(0.5) Tawengi, Ahmed Ali(0.5)

Elmejbri, Ali Abdoullah(1) Yongo K(0)

Kinyanjui Edwin(0.5) Benohman, Abu Ali(0.5)

ROUND EIGHT
KENYA(1) NIGERIA(3)

Saif Kanini was so far playing like a wizard. With his win in this game he took his tally to 5.5/6! in board one!! In the olympiad!!! While the Nigerians made minced meat out of the remaining kenyan players. Donde played his first game after a 3 game absence.

Omuku, Emmanuel(0) Kanani Saif(1)

Adam Aslam(0) Agusto, Obafunmilayo(1)

Faseyitan, O(1) Donde K(0)

Oulo S(0) Ayoola, O(1)

ROUND NINE
KENYA(3) BERMUDA(1)

The Swiss system was throwing Kenya up ad down the board. Kenya's next opponents, BERMUDA were demolished by a resurgent Kenyan team. The top two boards had strong players thus Kanini and Aslam drew their games. The bottom two pair did not dissapoint though.

Harris, Derek(0.5) Kanani Saif(0.5)

Adam Aslam(0.5) Radford, Michael(0.5)

Dill, James(0) Yongo K(1)

Donde K (1) Tee, Joseph(0)

ROUND TEN
KENYA(1.5) MALTA 2(2.5)

Kenya faced the second malta team losing closely. The top two boards provided the points with Kanini continuing with his extraodinary perfomance; the current score 7/8.

Kanani, Saif(1) Psaila, Mario(0)

Thake, Conrad(0.5) Adam, Aslam(0.5)

Yongo K(0) Vasallo, Ray(1)

Borg, Andrew(1) Donde K(1)

ROUND ELEVEN
KENYA(1.5) JAPAN(2.5)

The points in this round were scored by Kanini and Aslam. Kanini's score now 8/9!

Gonda, Gentaro(0) Kanani, Saif(1)

Adam, Aslam(0.5) Takemoto, Hiroshi(0.5)

Shiraki, T(1) Yongo K(0)

Kinyanjui Edwin(0) Sakurai, Takayuki(1)

ROUND TWELVE
KENYA(3) Papau New Guinea(1)

Saif Kanini was temporarily halted in this round only managing to draw his game same as Aslam. Boards 3 and 4 scored maximum points aganaist the Pacific Islanders.

Kanani, Saif(0.5) Whyte, B(0.5)

Hothersall, Richard(0.5) Adam Aslam(0.5)

Yongo K(1) Marko Helmut(0)

Puru, Bill(0) Kinyanjui Edwin(1)

ROUND THIRTEEN
KENYA(1.5) ANDORRA(2.5)

In the penultimate round, Kanini picked up another point to take his score to an amazing 9.5/11!

Santamaria Mas(0) Vicens Kanani, Saif(1)

Adam Aslam Clua(0) Ballague, Miguel(1)

Pantebre Martinez, Jose Antonio(0.5) Yongo K(0.5)

Kinyanjui Edwin(0) De la Casa, Angel(1)

ROUND FOURTEEN
KENYA(2) BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS(2)

In the last round Kanini was playing the game aganaist the leading player of the tournamet, william Hook of the british Virgin Islands. Hook had 10.5 points while Kanini had 9.5 and required a win to ensure a shared top finish. He instead dropped the only point in the Olympiad but that left him second in board 1. Kenya's point were scored in board 3 and 4.

Hook, William(1) Kanani, Saif(0)

Adam, Aslam(0) Jarecki, John(1)

Georges, Elton(0) Yongo K(1)

Kinyanjui, Edwin(1) Solomon, Raymond(0)

[White "Hook, William IVB"] [Black "Kanani, Saifudin KEN"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "1980.12.06"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c5 3.d5 Qb6 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Nbd7 6.Rb1 a6 7.a4 h6 8.Be3 Qb4 9.f3 Ne5 10.Bd2 Qb6 11.f4 Ng6 12.Bd3 Bg4 13.Qc1 Bd7 14.e5 dxe5 15.Bxg6 fxg6 16.fxe5 O-O-O 17.exf6 exf6 18.Nge2 Bg4 19.Be3 Bxe2 20.Kxe2 Qb4 21.Re1Bd6 22.h3 g5 23.Kf1 g4 24.hxg4 h5 25.g5 h4 26.Bf2 h3 27.gxh3 Rxh3 28.Re4 Qa5 29.Qd1 f5 30.Rh4 Rxh4 31.Bxh4 Qb4 32.Bf2 Qf4 33.Qh5 g6 34.Qh4 Qd2 35.Re1 Bf4 36.Rd1 Bxg5 37.Rxd2 Bxh4 1-0


Conclusion.
The 1980 Olympiad was all about Saif Kanini. His acomplishments have not been equaled and may not be in our generation. Part two will look at the 1982 Olympiad.