10:10, Friday, 27th October, 2017

The 2017 Cote d'Ivoire Team Chess Invitational is officially under way in Abidjan. Teams from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Togo, Burkina Faso and Sao Tome have traveled for the event and are joined by 4 local teams from the host federation.

The top seeded team is Nigeria who boast an average rating of 2116 and have two candidate masters in their team.

The event is being hosted at the Olympic Village of the Francophone games and all matches are taking place in the Gymnase de I'INJS. The teams are also staying on-site and using the accommodation that was purpose built for the international athletes.

Pairings and results are available at http://chess-results.com/tnr309919.aspx?lan=1 and will be updated as the games unfold.

We wish all teams the best of luck for the tournament!

14:39, Friday, 20th October, 2017

The 2017 Uganda Open Chess Championships are shaping up very well and there are already more than 60 players registered to participate. The strong field us currently headed by local IM's Arthur Ssegwanyi (2373) and Elijah Emojong (2333). They will face stiff opposition however from the likes of FM Harold Wanyama (2290) and FM Haruna Nsubuga (2207).

The Kenyan challenge is currently headed by Githinji Hinga (2119) while their are also strong international players from Rwanda, Tanzania, Namibia and South Africa who are expected to register shortly.

The field is limited to approximately 150 players and preference will be given to players with FIDE ratings in order to maximize the opportunity for unrated players to secure their first FIDE ratings in the event. Players who do not have a FIDE rating will be ranked according to their URS ratings where available for pairing purposes.

The players list is now published at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr308457.aspx?lan=1 and will be updated regularly as entries are received.

The full event brochure can now be downloaded at http://www.kcfafrica.com/sites/default/files/2017%20Uganda%20Open%20Ches...

Players who have not yet registered and who wish to participate can register online at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9B4gOhbKqTD0PnHYRYuY7WLBLSWVo...

This event is shaping up as one of the top events in East Africa this year and we look forward to partnering with the Uganda Chess Federation for what will be our first major tournament in the country.

16:24, Thursday, 12th October, 2017

The Chess Federation of Cote d'Ivoire (FIDEC) will be partnering with KCF Africa and KCF Francophone to run a major team invitational tournament in Abidjan from 26 - 29 October. Teams from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, and all other interested chess federations in the West Africa/ECOWAS region are invited to participate.

The event forms part of the series of 15 global tournaments which are being organized by the Kasparov Chess Foundation to celebrate the 15th year anniversary of the founding of the original Kasparov Chess Foundation in New York City.

The tournament will be held at the Olympic Village of the Francophonie Games in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, from Thursday 26th October until Sunday 29th October 2017. It features two separate events, namely:
1. A Team Invitational (FIDE Rated - Classical); and
2. An Open Swiss Rapid (FIDE Rated Rapid).

A FIDE Arbiters Training Seminar is also being arranged in parallel with the main tournament. The seminar will be run by IA Stephen Boyd and will be conducted in both English and French. The test at the end of the seminar will also be administered in both languages to allow individuals throughout the West African region to participate and qualify as FIDE Arbiters.

Details of the seminar including the full schedule are available on the FIDE Arbiters website at http://arbiters.fide.com/seminars/seminar-announcements.html

The tournament brochures are also now published in both English and French and can be accessed at the following links:

English
http://www.kcfafrica.com/sites/default/files/FIDEC%20-%202017%20Cote%20d...

French
http://www.kcfafrica.com/sites/default/files/FIDEC%20-%20Tournoi%20Inter...

Foreign teams will consist of 4 players each and should be nominated by their national chess federations. The rapid event is an open tournament however and may be entered by individuals regardless of whether they play in the team event or not.

Any national federations that would like additional information regarding the event are asked to contact Mr Privat Kouakou, (FIDEC Director General ) or Mr Charles Lorng, (FIDECVice President). The contact details of both these individuals are available in the tournament brochure.

KCF Africa is excited by this new initiative and we wish to thank the team at KCF Francophone who have sourced and provided the funds that are necessary to make this event a reality.

08:34, Thursday, 12th October, 2017

The 2017 Uganda Open Chess Championship will be held at the Forest Cottages in Kampala, Uganda from the 9th – 12th November 2017.The Championship is organized by the Uganda Chess Federation and sponsored by the Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa.

The tournament will be played as an open swiss over a total of 8 rounds. It will be played as a single section but will offer prizes for both open and female participants.

A maximum of 100 players will be accommodated with preference given to players who already have a FIDE ID and URS™ Rating. Local players who are unrated and who wish to secure an official FIDE and URS™ rating are encouraged to enter as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

The time control for all games is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Full details are available at http://www.kcfafrica.com/sites/default/files/2017%20Uganda%20Open%20Ches...

08:24, Thursday, 12th October, 2017

The 2017 Cote d’Ivoire Team Chess Invitational will be held at the Olympic Village of the Francophonie Games in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, from Thursday 26th October until Sunday 29th October 2017. The event will consist of:
1. A Team Invitational (FIDE Rated Classic); and
2. An Open Swiss (FIDE Rated Rapid).

The team tournament will be played as a round-robin over a total of seven (7) rounds. Eight (8) invited teams will participate with each team consisting of four (4) players. The time control for the team event will be 75 minutes per side with 30 seconds increment per move from move 1.

A 9 round open swiss rapid tournament will be played on Sunday Afternoon and a FIDE Arbiters Seminar will be held in parallel with the tournament.

Full details are available at http://www.kcfafrica.com/sites/default/files/FIDEC%20-%202017%20Cote%20d...

07:58, Monday, 9th October, 2017

The KCF Africa Team Chess Invitational tournament ended last night with an exciting final round. At the end of the day, the Invitational 3 Team of FM Matt Pon (RSA), Joseph Mwalw (MAW), CM Richard Mbedza (MAW) and WIM Tshepang Tlale (RSA) emerged victorious with a narrow one point victory margin ahead of Team Zambia who finished second. The SA Veterans Team recovered from a slow start to end in a commendable 3rd place.

The board prize winners were
- FM Matt Pon and KG Mosethle (both with 5/7 on board 1)
- Geoffrey Luanga (ZAM) who topped board 2 alone on 5.5/7
- Heinco Du Plessis, FM Shabir Bhawoodien, and CM Richard Mbedza who all scored 5/7 on board 3 and
- WIM Epah Jere who dominated the ladies board with a score of 6.5/7 and a net rating gain of 56 points.

The top rating gain in the entire event was however recorded by the fast rising Keith Khumalo of the Emerging Players team. Keith scored 4/7 on board 4 for a tournament performance of 2029 and an ELO gain of 89 points!

The prizes were awarded by Mr Kharty Padayachee, a member of the Executive Management team at Carnival City. We would like to thank the staff and management team at Carnival City for their fantastic support throughout the tournament and we hope to be able to partner with them to bring more events like this to the venue in the future.

Final standings as well as 107 games from the tournament are now posted and available at http://chess-results.com/tnr305721.aspx?lan=1

09:38, Sunday, 8th October, 2017

The final day of the KCF Team Chess Invitational has arrived and there are still 5 teams with a realistic chance of winning the event.

Team Zambia had been slowly pulling away from the field but suffered a shock 4-0 loss to the SA Veterans team in round 5. This result has brought them back to the field and there are now 5 teams within 3 points of the lead at the end of round 5.

WIM Epah Jere is now the only player with a perfect score and her 5/5 result has seen her record a tournament performance of 2508. She will look to extend the streak further in her round 6 match against Kgomotso Ndachipiwa of Botswana this morning.

The final result is now highly likely to come down to the final round where Team Zambia is slated to face the Invitational 3 team. These two teams are narrowly leading the event at the moment but are being chased hard.

Latest standings are available at http://chess-results.com/tnr305721.aspx?lan=1&art=0&wi=821 and the round 6 games are currently live at https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/kcf-africa-team-chess-invi...

10:13, Saturday, 7th October, 2017

Round 4 of the KCF Team Invitational is under way and the field remains very tight packed with only 3.5 points separating the top team from the bottom at the end of round 3.

Only two players have a full score of 3/3 and they are South Africa's Jacob Mnguni on board 2 and Zambia's Epah Jere on board 4.

Timothy Kabwe of Zambia is also playing well and he finds himself leading on board 1 with a total of 2.5/3. He is the only board 1 player to record two wins to date with his victories coming over Jack van zyl Rudd in round 2 and IM Providence Oatlhotse in round 3.

The latest standings are published at http://chess-results.com/tnr305721.aspx?lan=1 while the live games for round 4 are currently in progress at
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/kcf-africa-team-chess-invi... and on the FollowChess Mobile App.

10:04, Friday, 6th October, 2017

The first round of the KCF Team Invitational saw four tightly contested matches with three results ending 2.5 - 1.5 and the other as a 2-2 draw. The teams are clearly very well matched which promises fighting chess throughout.

Games are being played in the Rio Conference Rooms which are located within the main Casino complex at Carnival City. All 16 games from each round are being broadcast live on Chess24 and FollowChess with games starting at 10am and 4pm daily.

Round 1 results are published at http://chess-results.com/tnr305721.aspx?lan=1 and the second round is currently live at https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/kcf-africa-team-chess-invi...

12:37, Thursday, 5th October, 2017

The KCF Africa Team Chess Invitational is scheduled to start this evening at 18.00 Central African Time (GMT + 2). Games will then be played daily at 10.00 and 16.00 until Sunday.

The event format is an 8 team invitational team round-robin with teams featuring some of the top players from across Southern Africa. Algeria, Botswana, England, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe are all represented among the participating teams.

All games from the tournament will be carried on both Chess24 as well as the FollowChess Mobile Application. Anyone wishing to follow the games live can do so at https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/kcf-africa-team-chess-invi... and at http://live.followchess.com/#!kcf-africa-team-2017

Results and pairings for all rounds are also available at
http://chess-results.com/tnr305721.aspx?lan=1

KCF Africa would like to thank the staff and management at Sun International as well as our hosts at Carnival City for partnering with us to make this tournament a reality. We wish all players well over the course of the next 4 days.

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