16:03, Sunday, 24th July, 2016
We wish to congratulate FM Fy Rakotomaharo who held his nerve to defeat GM Maurice Ashley in their 4 game exhibition match held in Antananarivo yesterday afternoon.
Fy won both the rapid matches which were played at a rate of 15/15 + 10 seconds per increment before Maurice showed his fighting spirit in the first blitz match (3/3 + 2 seconds per move) to keep the match alive.
The killer blow as delivered in the final match however as Fy prevailed to win the overall encounter by a score of 3-1.
The players had entered the match separated by only one single rating point (2440 for Maurice vs 2441 for Fy) and it shaped up as a close fight pitching youth and match fitness vs guile and experience.
Youth prevailed on this occasion but the success of the spectacle and post-match media interviews will certainly go a long way to promoting chess across the country.
We thank Maurice for his ongoing commitment to developing the game across the continent and wish him well for the rest of his stay in Madagascar.
Fy won both the rapid matches which were played at a rate of 15/15 + 10 seconds per increment before Maurice showed his fighting spirit in the first blitz match (3/3 + 2 seconds per move) to keep the match alive.
The killer blow as delivered in the final match however as Fy prevailed to win the overall encounter by a score of 3-1.
The players had entered the match separated by only one single rating point (2440 for Maurice vs 2441 for Fy) and it shaped up as a close fight pitching youth and match fitness vs guile and experience.
Youth prevailed on this occasion but the success of the spectacle and post-match media interviews will certainly go a long way to promoting chess across the country.
We thank Maurice for his ongoing commitment to developing the game across the continent and wish him well for the rest of his stay in Madagascar.
13:30, Friday, 22nd July, 2016
The 2016 Madagascar Chess Open has now reached the half way point and there is little surprise that top seed FM Fy Rakotomaharo is at the top of the leader-board again. Having secured a perfect 9/9 last year, Fy is clearly the odds on favorite to defend his title.
He will face a far tougher proposition however when he takes on GM Maurice Ashley in a 4-game exhibition match which is scheduled to be broadcast on Chess24 tomorrow afternoon.
Maurice touched-down this afternoon after concluding the South African leg of his African tour. He will be on the ground in Madagascar for the next 3 days before he returns to the USA for the 3rd leg of the Grand Chess Tour which starts in St Louis on the
4th August.
The latest standings from the tournament are available at
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr231133.aspx?lan=1 while broadcast details for the match between Fy and Maurice will be released early tomorrow morning for those wanting to follow the games live.
He will face a far tougher proposition however when he takes on GM Maurice Ashley in a 4-game exhibition match which is scheduled to be broadcast on Chess24 tomorrow afternoon.
Maurice touched-down this afternoon after concluding the South African leg of his African tour. He will be on the ground in Madagascar for the next 3 days before he returns to the USA for the 3rd leg of the Grand Chess Tour which starts in St Louis on the
4th August.
The latest standings from the tournament are available at
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr231133.aspx?lan=1 while broadcast details for the match between Fy and Maurice will be released early tomorrow morning for those wanting to follow the games live.
17:20, Thursday, 14th July, 2016
GM Maurice Ashley has just touched down in South Africa and will be off to a running start with an early morning interview with John Robbie on Radio 702 tomorrow morning!
Tune in just before 06.45 to listen to him talk about his African tour and the ongoing MC satellite tournament in Johannesburg this weekend!
Tune in just before 06.45 to listen to him talk about his African tour and the ongoing MC satellite tournament in Johannesburg this weekend!
08:07, Thursday, 14th July, 2016
The Redpath Mining Millionaire Open got under way in Johannesburg last night whilst the 2nd Nigerian Millionaire Open has reached round 4 in Lagos.
The games from the top 25 boards at the South African tournament are currently live and can be followed at https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/redpath-mining-millionaire...
Results from South Africa can be tracked at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr229737.aspx?lan=1
whilst the results and pairings from Nigeria are available at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr230274.aspx?lan=1
Both tournaments feature a number of strong IM strength players who will be fighting with the local hopefuls for the remaining two tickets to Atlantic City in October.
Actions is expected to heat up over the weekend as the top 8 from both events enter the rapid and blitz playoff stage of the event for the elusive qualification tickets.
The games from the top 25 boards at the South African tournament are currently live and can be followed at https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/redpath-mining-millionaire...
Results from South Africa can be tracked at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr229737.aspx?lan=1
whilst the results and pairings from Nigeria are available at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr230274.aspx?lan=1
Both tournaments feature a number of strong IM strength players who will be fighting with the local hopefuls for the remaining two tickets to Atlantic City in October.
Actions is expected to heat up over the weekend as the top 8 from both events enter the rapid and blitz playoff stage of the event for the elusive qualification tickets.
21:33, Tuesday, 12th July, 2016
Round 1 pairings from the Radpath Mining MC Satellite tournament in Johannesburg have now also been released and are available at
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr229737.aspx?lan=1
The defending champion, IM Providence Oatlhotse from Botswana can expect stiff opposition this year from the likes of top seed IM Rodwell Makoto as well as the reigning PSS Rapid and Blitz Champion IM Daniel Jere.
The format of the championship section will see the top 8 players this year compete on Sunday in rapid and blitz playoff matches for the single ticket to Atlantic City in October.
The action from the top 25 boards will be broadcast live from tomorrow evening at https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments.
Games start at 18.00 local time tomorrow night and then at 9am and 3pm daily until Sunday when the rapid and blitz showdown will take place.
GM Maurice Ashley will again be in attendance over the weekend to provide commentary at the venue for any local players wishing to be part of the action.
We wish all participants the best of luck on their quests to win the elusive qualifying ticket.
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr229737.aspx?lan=1
The defending champion, IM Providence Oatlhotse from Botswana can expect stiff opposition this year from the likes of top seed IM Rodwell Makoto as well as the reigning PSS Rapid and Blitz Champion IM Daniel Jere.
The format of the championship section will see the top 8 players this year compete on Sunday in rapid and blitz playoff matches for the single ticket to Atlantic City in October.
The action from the top 25 boards will be broadcast live from tomorrow evening at https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments.
Games start at 18.00 local time tomorrow night and then at 9am and 3pm daily until Sunday when the rapid and blitz showdown will take place.
GM Maurice Ashley will again be in attendance over the weekend to provide commentary at the venue for any local players wishing to be part of the action.
We wish all participants the best of luck on their quests to win the elusive qualifying ticket.
10:24, Monday, 11th July, 2016
CM Wachira Wachania has emerged victorious after 2 grueling days in Nairobi which saw him secure the first KCF sponsored ticket to the Millionaire Chess Open in Atlantic City in October.
Wachira first overcame Martin Njoroge in the blitz stage of the semi-finals and he held his nerve in the final stage blitz play-offs to defeat Chess Kenya secretary general Joseph Atwoli who ended second.
The event also saw more than 36 junior players receive trophies for the age group sections ranging from u/8 to u/18.
GM Maurice Ashley recorded a perfect 30/30 in his simultaneous display on Sunday afternoon while he was also in fine form entertaining the local players with his live commentary during the final playoffs stages.
KCF would like to thank all our co-sponsors as well as the great team from Nairobi Gymkhana who made their excellent facilities available to us throughout the duration of the tournament.
Final standings from all sections are available at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr229640.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=5&flag=30&wi=821.
We also to wish to thank Kim Bhari who has posted more than 400 photos from the tournament on the page of the Nairobi Chess Club - These can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/NairobiChessClub/?fref=ts
We wish Wachira the best of luck in Atlantic City and we look forward to the forthcoming tournaments in both Nigeria and South Africa this weekend where the other two qualifiers will be selected!
Wachira first overcame Martin Njoroge in the blitz stage of the semi-finals and he held his nerve in the final stage blitz play-offs to defeat Chess Kenya secretary general Joseph Atwoli who ended second.
The event also saw more than 36 junior players receive trophies for the age group sections ranging from u/8 to u/18.
GM Maurice Ashley recorded a perfect 30/30 in his simultaneous display on Sunday afternoon while he was also in fine form entertaining the local players with his live commentary during the final playoffs stages.
KCF would like to thank all our co-sponsors as well as the great team from Nairobi Gymkhana who made their excellent facilities available to us throughout the duration of the tournament.
Final standings from all sections are available at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr229640.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=5&flag=30&wi=821.
We also to wish to thank Kim Bhari who has posted more than 400 photos from the tournament on the page of the Nairobi Chess Club - These can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/NairobiChessClub/?fref=ts
We wish Wachira the best of luck in Atlantic City and we look forward to the forthcoming tournaments in both Nigeria and South Africa this weekend where the other two qualifiers will be selected!
17:37, Monday, 4th July, 2016
The July rating stats have been released and the monthly analysis is available on our homepage at http://www.kcfafrica.com/en/content/country-rankings
A notable change that has taken place over the last few months is in Libya where the local chess federation has made great strides with regards to the number of FIDE rated players. They have risen to 4th place in the country rankings based on number of rated players after almost doubling the number of FIDE rated players in the country over the course of the last 6 months.
In terms of individual rankings the two top African juniors continued to move forward and both Fy Rakotomaharo and Adam Fawzy have now entered the top 10.
Another significant milestone was recorded in June by Zambian FM Andrew Kayonde who crossed the 2400 barrier to re-enter the top 20 after after a strong showing in his latest tournament in Lusaka. Andrew now needs just one further IM norm to complete his title requirements.
The ladies ranking list saw two new players from Morocco enter the top 20 following the completion of the Zone 4.1 Championship in Agadir in May.
We expect to see some major changes in August once the results from the busy July period are taken into account.
A notable change that has taken place over the last few months is in Libya where the local chess federation has made great strides with regards to the number of FIDE rated players. They have risen to 4th place in the country rankings based on number of rated players after almost doubling the number of FIDE rated players in the country over the course of the last 6 months.
In terms of individual rankings the two top African juniors continued to move forward and both Fy Rakotomaharo and Adam Fawzy have now entered the top 10.
Another significant milestone was recorded in June by Zambian FM Andrew Kayonde who crossed the 2400 barrier to re-enter the top 20 after after a strong showing in his latest tournament in Lusaka. Andrew now needs just one further IM norm to complete his title requirements.
The ladies ranking list saw two new players from Morocco enter the top 20 following the completion of the Zone 4.1 Championship in Agadir in May.
We expect to see some major changes in August once the results from the busy July period are taken into account.
12:56, Monday, 4th July, 2016
July promises to be an extremely busy month as we are hosting no less than 5 major tournaments across the continent this month alone! Our full list of tournaments for July includes the following FIDE rated events.
1. Nairobi Gymkhana Millionaire Chess Open from 9 - 10 July in Nairobi, Kenya
2. The 2nd Nigerian Millionaire Chess Open from 12 - 16 July in Lagos, Nigeria
3. The Redpath Mining Millionaire Chess Open from 13 - 17 July in Johannesburg, South Africa
4. The 2016 Madagascar Open from 20 - 25 July in Antananarivo, Madagascar and
5. The 6th Presidents Cup from 28 July – 1 August in Accra, Ghana
We are delighted to be able to renew the partnership with Millionaire Chess this month and we look forward to the exciting Satellite tournaments that are planned in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. We also very pleased to be able to welcome Redpath Mining as the title sponsor for the South Africa tournament.
Full details for all 5 regional events have been published on the local chess pages but are also available for download at
http://www.kcfafrica.com/en/content/forthcoming-events-0.
We look forward to a bumper month of chess which will no doubt see many of the top players on the continent clash in the various events that lie ahead this month.
1. Nairobi Gymkhana Millionaire Chess Open from 9 - 10 July in Nairobi, Kenya
2. The 2nd Nigerian Millionaire Chess Open from 12 - 16 July in Lagos, Nigeria
3. The Redpath Mining Millionaire Chess Open from 13 - 17 July in Johannesburg, South Africa
4. The 2016 Madagascar Open from 20 - 25 July in Antananarivo, Madagascar and
5. The 6th Presidents Cup from 28 July – 1 August in Accra, Ghana
We are delighted to be able to renew the partnership with Millionaire Chess this month and we look forward to the exciting Satellite tournaments that are planned in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. We also very pleased to be able to welcome Redpath Mining as the title sponsor for the South Africa tournament.
Full details for all 5 regional events have been published on the local chess pages but are also available for download at
http://www.kcfafrica.com/en/content/forthcoming-events-0.
We look forward to a bumper month of chess which will no doubt see many of the top players on the continent clash in the various events that lie ahead this month.
12:14, Saturday, 18th June, 2016
Day 2 of the YourNextMove GCT Rapid tournament from Leuven is now running live. Follow the action at http://grandchesstour.org/watch-live
12:50, Sunday, 12th June, 2016
The final day's play in Paris is currently under way with action heating up right now.
Catch up on all the videos and highlights at http://www.dailymotion.com/parisgrandchesstour.
Live games are available with commentary in both english and french at http://games.dailymotion.com/parisgrandchesstour and at http://grandchesstour.org/2016-paris-gct/watch-live
Enjoy the games!
Catch up on all the videos and highlights at http://www.dailymotion.com/parisgrandchesstour.
Live games are available with commentary in both english and french at http://games.dailymotion.com/parisgrandchesstour and at http://grandchesstour.org/2016-paris-gct/watch-live
Enjoy the games!