African Youth Chess Championship

Aarti Datharam - African Youth Chess Champion u8 Girls (Tied 1st)

Cailin Chetty - 2nd place u12 Boys (Tied 2nd)

Naseem Essa - 3rd place u12 Boys (Tied 2nd)

All 3 players received titles - WCM for Aarti and CM for Cailin and Naseem.

4th Blitz tournament

Dear Member/Parent/Player

Please take note that GCC will be holding its 4th Blitz tournament this week Friday.

Registration is from 6pm to 6.30pm

Entry fees:

GCC Member = R10

Non-GCC Member = R15

Please pass the message on to all chess players.

Hope to see a lot of players on Friday! This will be the last Friday tournament for 2014, so lets come out in our numbers to make it a memorable one.

Regards

GCC

3rd Blitz Tournament

Dear Member/Parent/Player

Please take note that GCC will be holding its 3rd Blitz tournament this week Friday - 14 November 2014. The 2nd Blitz tournament was a great success. Hope to see more of you this week Friday.

Registration is from 6pm to 6.30pm

Entry fees:

GCC Member = R10

Non-GCC Member = R15

Please pass the message on to all chess players and parents.

Hope to see a lot of players on Friday!

Regards

GCC Exec

GCC Blitz Tournament 2

Dear Member/Parent/Player

Please take note that GCC will be holding its 2nd Blitz tournament this week Friday(7 November).

Registration is from 6pm to 6.30pm

Entry fees:

GCC Member = R10

Non-GCC Member = R15

Please pass the message on to all chess players.

Hope to see a lot of players on Friday!

Regards

GCC Exec

Glenwood Chess Club Doubles Tournament

Dear Member

Please take note that the club will be hosting an OPEN doubles tournament on Friday 31st October.

Registration is from 6pm to 6:30pm.

Entry Fee is R20 per team

Average Team Rating must not exceed 1600. If there is a rating difference of more than 200 points, the higher rated player MUST play on board 1 of the team.

A team name must also be submitted. (LATEST CHESSA RATINGS WILL BE USED)

Format: 7 round swiss

The team playing white is responsible for providing clocks. GCC will be renting clocks at R2 a clock. Please bring your own clocks.

If you do not have a partner and would like to play, come to the tournament as we will also be doing manual partnering for you. Also if a team exceeds the average team rating, the players will have to partner with someone else.

Please pass the email on to all interested individuals. It is a fun tournament and we would like to have as many people possible. It is not limited to club members only!

Prizes:

1st - 30% of entry fees

2nd - 20% of entry fees

3rd - 10% of entry fees

Regards

Divesh Sookdeo - Club Director

Doubles Tournament

Dear Member

Please take note that club will not be open on 24 October. We have postponed the doubles tournament to next week Friday, 31 October 2014.

Entry fee for a team: R20

Please send me your team name, and who will be playing board 1 and board 2. This will make registration easier on the Friday next week. The doubles tournament is an open tournament.

Registration will be from 6pm to 6.30pm. Please bring your own clocks as well.

Please pass email on to other individuals that may be interested in participating.

Reminder about prize giving taking place on Saturday the 25th of October.

Regards

Club Director

Club Prize Giving and Lunch

Dear Member/Parent/Guest

You are invited to attend the Glenwood Chess Club Prize Giving this week Saturday (25th October).

The venue for the Prize Giving is Marcos Restaurant 45 Windermere Road (Lilian Ngoyi Road)

Please click here for the menu catered for our Prize Giving.

Please click here for the schedule.

Please RSVP with the amount of individuals attending. 

1) Adult Club Members may bring 1 additional member.

2) Children Club Members may bring immediate family members.

Hope to see you there.

Regards

Divesh Sookdeo - Club Director

Glenwood Chess Club Blitz Tournament

Dear Member

Please take note that the club will reopen this week Friday with a series of one day tournaments. First up is a Blitz tournament.

Entry fee for GCC Members = R10

Entry fee for non-GCC Members = R15

Prize Money = 1st place - 30% of entries

                        2nd place - 20% of entries

                        3rd place - 10% of entries

Registration will take place from 6 to 6.30pm. 

Hope to see many of you there Friday evening.

Regards

GCC Exec

Tal Swiss pairings - Round 6

Provisional pairings for round 6:

A Section

B Section

Durban Open International Chess Tournament

Durban Open Entry Form

Dear Chess Player

As you may be aware the 1st Durban Open International Chess Tournament is going to be held along side the World Youth Chess Championship in Durban from 19-29 September 2014. 

The details of the event can be found on our official webpage 

2014wycc.co.za

The event caries a total prize pool of 150000 RANDS and we already have ensured participation of TEN GRANDMASTERS and several other FIDE rated players from ABROAD

THE LOC IS PLEASED TO OFFER AN EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT IN ENTRY FEE TO ALL SOUTH AFRICAN PLAYERS WHO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT ON OR BEFORE 5TH SEPTEMBER 2014...... THE DISCOUNT IS MASSIVE ---- 25% REDUCTION IN ENTRY FEE IF YOU PAY ON OR BEFORE 5th SEPTEMBER 2014. 

Please note that this entry fee discount is valid only for South African players. 

To Register please go to our official page and fill out the online registration form or send us a mail on durbanopenchess@gmail.com

HURRY THIS OFFER IS ONLY VALID TILL 5th SEPTEMBER. This is a unique opportunity to match wits with some of the famous names in the game: 

Our confirmed list of Grandmasters include: 

1. Abhijeet Gupta - INDIA - Former World Junior Champion

2. Ahmed Adly - Egypt - Former World Junior Champion

3. Sahaj Grover - INDIA - Former World UNDER-10 Champion

4. Eric Hansen - Canada 

5. A R SALEH SALEM - UAE's Best Player

6. VInay Bhat - USA

7. SABINO BRUNELLO - ITALY

8. Gil Popilski - Israel

9. Axel Rombaldoni - Italy

10. Tejas Bakre - India

And some more.... Please see some details on our facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chess-South-Africa/671731996193378?fref=ts

We are also arranging budget accommodation especially for the South African players who participate in Durban Open, For details please send us a mail on durbanopenchess@gmail.com 

Hurry and Register NOW.... We hope to see you in DURBAN Open - a Unique Chess tournament to be played in International Convention Center 

TEAM DURBAN OPEN

Tal Swiss pairings - Round 5

Provisional pairings for round 5 version 1.1:

A Section

B Section

Tal Swiss final pairings - Round 4

Provisional pairings for round 4 version 3:

A Section

B Section

Some impressions of the scene at GCC during the Tal Swiss:

Tal Swiss provisional pairings - Round 3

Provisional pairings for round 3 version 1:

A Section

B Section

Tal Swiss provisional pairings - Round 2

Provisional pairings for round 2 version 2:

A Section

B Section

Glenwood Chess Club Championship 2014

Glenwood Chess Club's first club championship tournament has just concluded.  GCC attracted close to 60 players to compete in the tournament, which was divided into five sections.

The E Section which was a 9 round swiss, saw Dayaan Parthiphal finish clear 1st with 7/9, a point and a half ahead of the field.  Sachin Pather came 2nd with 5.5/9, and Thanushree Pather was 3rd with 5/9.

The D Section was a 10 player round robin, with Joshua Bezuidenhout emerging 1st with 7/9, half a point ahead of the field.  Zahra Kara came 2nd with 6.5/9, followed by Chad Blomeyer with 5.5/9.

The C Section was won by the club's director - Divesh Sookdeo, who finished with 6/9, a half point ahead of his field.  Nathi Ngubeni, Sachin Ramgoon and Adhir Lalla shared 2nd place with 5.5/9.

The Candidates Section was won by Shivar Gopaulsingh, with 7/9, a half point ahead of his field.  Petros Ntombela came 2nd with 6.5/9 followed by Yashkar Balmakhun with 5/9 for 3rd place.

And finally the hotly contended Championship Section was won by Joseph Mwale and Jason Subke with 7.5/9, with Lulama Qobo and Bhekinkosi Mgobhozi sharing 3rd place, with 5/9.

 GCC members prepare for their games.  The young school players use old school pen and paper tech, and the old school players with their flashy hand held tech.

 

 

Tal Swiss and other news.

Dear Sir/Madam

With the conclusion of the club championships this week Friday, the club now moves on to its 2nd Swiss Tournament (Tal Swiss Tournament) which starts on the Friday 1st of August at Glenwood Preparatory School.

1) All paid up club members will automatically be entered. If you are not participating, please let me know before the tournament commences.

2) New members are welcome to join our club at any time. Please follow instructions on the entry form (see attached).

3) I would like to encourage all World Youth 2014 participants (current club members and non-club members) to play in this tournament as it will provide competition and match practice. 

4) Current club members please to specify if you want to play in the A section if your rating falls below the prerequisite. Otherwise you will automatically be placed into the B section.

5) Registration for the tournament will take place at 5.45pm on the 1st of August. Please bring your own clocks if you have. Clocks may be rented at R2 per round. Person playing black will have the responsibility of providing/renting the clock.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) Club will resume its coaching sessions from the 1st of August. Coaching sessions are from 4pm to 6pm. Coaching fee is R100 per session attended by your child. If you will be attending, please send me an email.

2) The Club will be hosting an Open Chess Tournament (Glenwood Chess Club Open) on the 30th and 31st of August. Please keep yourself available for those dates. Entry forms will be made available soon. 

"The Glenwood Chess Club aims to uplift youth chess by providing a platform for participation and competition"

Yours sincerely

Divesh Sookdeo - Club Director

SA Schools Individual Championship Report

According to Mr Vicky Magu, KwaZulu-Natal has the potential to do well. KwaZulu-Natal was well represented at the South African Schools Individual Championship that took place in Bloemfontein from the 10^th to 12^th July 2014. The KwaZulu-Natal school representatives braving the cold were determined not only to show the potential our province possesses but also bring home the medals illustrating that potential should not be the only word associated with us but rather include words such as talent, skill and champions.

Top 3 in each age group (U9, U11, U13, U15, U17, and U19) and division (Boys and Girls) were to be awarded medals. KwaZulu-Natal secured 14 of the 36 possible medals with 10 other players positioned between 4^th and 10^th. Positions are as follows:

U9 Girls: 1^st Aarti Datharam (GCC); 2^nd Diya Datharam (GCC)

U11 Girls: 2^nd Karmishta Moodley (GCC); 4^th Santham Moodley; 5^th Priyasha Naidoo (GCC)

U11 Boys: 1^st Naseem Essa (GCC); 3^rd Eli-Jordan Govender (GCC)

U13 Girls: 1^st Zahra Kara (GCC); 5^th Dayaan Parthiephal (GCC)

U13 Boys: 1^st Sachin Reddy (GCC); 2^nd Cailin Chetty (GCC); 4^th Aaron Jude Naidu

U15 Girls: 1^st Keyana Padayachee; 2^nd Saiyuri Naidoo (GCC)

U15 Boys: 5^th Shivar Gopaulsingh (GCC); 6^th Tarendra Moodley; 8^th Liam Moodley (GCC)

U17 Girls: 2^nd Nobuhle Ndunakazi

U17 Boys: 1^st Kenyon Padayachee; 3^rd Kyran Appanna; 4^th Jivorn Reddy

U19 Girls: 3^rd Viashna Hansraj; 4^th Caitlin Chetty (GCC)

U19 Boys: 8^th Kieron Dowie

On behalf of the Glenwood Chess Club Executive Committee, and a member of the KwaZulu-Natal School Chess group that was in Bloemfontein, I would like to congratulate all KwaZulu-Natal players for representing their province to the best of their ability, for achieving what they did and reinforcing that KwaZulu-Natal Junior Chess is a force to be reckoned with. I would like to further extend congratulations to all those members that play in the Glenwood Chess Club (GCC). We are a proud club to have a strong contingent of junior players and also to witness others growing in their chess becoming stronger over time. 

  Family Affair: Sisters Aarti (centre) and Diya Datharam (right) claiming 1^st and 2^nd place respectively.

 One of the ladies for the future… Karmishta Moodley (centre)

 

 Young Guns Eli-Jordan Govender (left) and Naseem Essa (right)

The leading lady… Zahra Kara (right)

Well done Sachin Reddy, emerging victorious from a tough u13 Boys section

Dynamite coming in small packages with love from KZN… Saiyuri Naidoo (centre) and Keyana Padayachee (right)

 Nobuhle Ndunakazi (centre) flying high for KZN u17 Girls

Mr Vicky Magu saw the light surrounding himself with KZN Talent… Kyran Appanna (left) and Kenyon Padayachee (right)

Viashna Hansraj (left) going BIG in the u19 Girls

 

Thank you to Mr Bongani Mkhunya (KZNCA Schools and Youth Representative) for organising this whole experience and for allowing me to be part of it. Thank you to Mr Vicky Magu for organising the tournament and allowing us to come take home his trophies.

Written by Divesh Sookdeo

GCCC Postponed Games

Dear Member/Parent

1) This week Friday is the scheduled last round of the club championships (A to D section). Throughout the tournament we have allowed postponements but recently the amount of games being postponed has been substantial. It is out of our control but we cannot allow the tournament to finish later than already planned. We have added 1 more week to the club championships to help with the postponements.

Postponed games by a player (see attached list) must be completed by Sunday the 27th of July. If a postponed game result is not given to me by the end of the day, the person who postponed the game shall lose the game. This decision was taken in fairness to accommodate all postponed games. 

As GCC Executive, we have provided next week Friday (18th) - 1 round, Saturday (19th) - 2 rounds and the following week Friday (25th) - 1 round for players to play their games. In the attached list there are 5 rounds of postponed games. The Club Director has done his best to accommodate everyone in those 5 rounds. It is recommended that players organise to play each other during the week wherever possible.

2) Club games will start at the normal time of 6.30 this week.

3) E section will be playing round 8 this week Friday and conclude next week Friday.

Regards

Glenwood Chess Club Executive Committee

Temporary change of 6pm schedule and postponed games.

Dear Member/Parent

1) It has been requested that rounds be started earlier on Friday due to the start of eThekwini trials the next day. I have to factor in people who are working during the day and cannot make an earlier round, so please whoever cannot make the round before 6pm, please let me know by Wednesday morning. This is an urgent matter.

I will need to draw up a schedule that best suits everyone.

2) Also I noticed that quite a few children qualified to go to Bloem for the SA Schools Tournament. Please can the parents of those kids please confirm with me by Wednesday morning as well if their kid will be going to Bloem as both the schools tournament and one of the club's rounds clashes. Therefore a different schedule will need to be made.

Regards

Divesh Sookdeo

 

eThekwini District forms

eThekwini District Youth Trials entry form.

eThekwini Chess Association manager application form.

CLUB NOTICES

Dear Member/Parent

Please take note of the following notices:

1) THERE WILL BE NO CLUB THIS FRIDAY. This is due to the school hosting a school function in the evening.

2) All scheduled games (A-D section) for this week Friday will be played next week Friday. Round 6 games will be played next week Friday. E section will also have their next round next week Friday.

3) The club executive has decided to temporarily stop coaching sessions on Fridays due to a low attendance. Once there is a peaked interest from players and parents again, the club will resume coaching sessions. 

Regards

Glenwood Chess Club Executive Committee

Petrosian Memorial Tournament Report

 (Report by Rahul Beekrum)

Glenwood Chess Club hosted its first Open Rapid tournament on 1 June 2014 at Northlands Primary School. The tournament was held in honour of former world champion ‘Iron’ Tigran Petrosian for his contribution to chess. After 7 rounds the tournament was won by Mbongeni ‘MC’ Sithole.

The tournament attracted a strong group of 47 players with 10 players over 1700. There were many upsets and after 4 rounds the 3 leaders with full score were top two seeds Erick Takawira and Joseph Mwale, and surprise challenger Petros Ntombela. Mwale went on to beat Petros in round 5 while GCC president Sayen Naidu took a point of Takawira to leave Mwale clear on 5/5. However, Mwale lost to Takawira in round 6, leaving 4 players, including Bhekinkosi Mgobhozi and Mbongeni Sithole on 5/6 going into the last round.

In round 7, the game between Mwale and Mgobhozi resulted in a quick draw, with Takawira playing Sithole for outright first place. The game was never going to be a draw in a messy position after Sithole began a kingside pawn storm with the White pieces after castling kingside, leaving his king unprotected. The position seemed equal material-wise for most of the game, but Takawira got into time trouble and Sithole eventually won.

Thus the tournament was won by Mbongeni Sithole on 6/7, with a three way tie for 2^nd on 5.5/7 between GCC members Joseph Mwale, Bhekinkosi Mgobhozi, and Cyril Danisa on tiebreak respectively. The Best Junior award was shared between Genevieve Pillay and Shayur Hansraj, with Genevieve winning it by one bucholz point.\

Petrosian Memorial 2014 Champion: Mbongeni Sithole.

The full results are here.

Youth Trials

eThekwini District Youth Trials (u8 to u20)

Dates: 5 July - 8 July 2014

Venue: Berea Primary School (20 Bellevue Road, Berea, Durban)

Entry Fee: R150

Entry Form: To be published soon

Contact: Divesh Sookdeo - eThekwini Chess Association Schools and Youth Representative

Cellphone: 0733356094

Email: ethekwiniyouthchess@gmail.com

Divesh instructively demonstrates how to trap a queen.

Mbongeni Sithole wins Petrosian Memorial Rapid

Mbongeni Sithole won the Petrosian Memorial Rapid with 6/7 dropping only one point.  Sithole proved unstoppable leaving 4 top GCC players in his trail, not even a National Master was able to hold him back.

The full results are here.

Sayen did his homework!

Petrosian Memorial Rapid Swiss - 1 June 2014

“Iron Tigran” Petrosian

Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (June 17, 1929 – August 13, 1984) was a Soviet Armenian Grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost impenetrable defensive playing style, which emphasized safety above all else.

Petrosian was a Candidate for the World Championship on eight occasions (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980). He won the World Championship in 1963 against Mikhail Botvinnik, successfully defended it in 1966 against Boris Spassky, and lost it in 1969 to Spassky. Thus he was the defending World Champion or a World Championship Candidate in ten consecutive three-year cycles. He won the Soviet Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975).

Petrosian is widely known for popularizing chess in Armenia.  He was recognized as the hardest player to beat in the history of chess.  Petrosian was not selected for the Soviet Olympiad side until 1958; he had already been a Candidate twice by that time. But he then made ten straight Soviet Olympiad teams from 1958 to 1978, won nine team gold medals, one team silver medal, and six individual gold medals.

His overall performance in Olympiad play is impressive: +78 −1 =50 (only one game lost, to Robert Hübner, out of 129 played), the third all-time best performance after Mikhail Tal and Anatoly Karpov.  Petrosian was an expert against the King's Indian Defence, and he often played what is now known as the Petrosian System. The Queen's Indian Defence also has a variation developed by Petrosian. This system received much attention in 1980 when it was used by the young Garry Kasparov to defeat several grandmasters. Today the Petrosian Variation is still considered the most pressing variation, with the greatest score in Master games.

For his excellence in World Chess and significant contribution to the game, the Glenwood Chess Club honours his memory through the Petrosian Memorial Tournament, a one day rapid swiss on 1 June 2014.

Enter Online here.

Download the tournament schedule here.

Current can be seen here. (Note a player's entry will only appear here if they entered using the online entry)

Club Champs Current Results Cross Table

Championship Section               Candidates Section
C Section                                    D Section
E-Section

Club Championship pairings

 N.B.  By choosing to participate in the GCC Club Championship Tournament you are agreeing to abide with the rules and regulations stipulated here.

Championship Section            Candidates Section

C Section                                 D Section

E Section - pairings will be done on Friday night at GCC.

Max Euwe Memorial

Dr Max Euwe (20 May 1901 - 26 November 1981) was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, World Chess Champion (1935 - 1937), and FIDE President (1970 - 1978).  Euwe (pronounced uhr-vuh) earned a doctorate in mathematics at the University of Amsterdam.  Euwe had also won the Amateur Heavyweight Boxing Championship of Europe.  Euwe also authored or co-authored a number of highly instructional chess books, including "The Road to Chess Mastery", "The Middle Game" - books 1 and 2, "Judgment and Planning in Chess", and "Chess Master vs Chess Amateur".
  

Glenwood Chess Club hosted it's first open swiss tournament: Max Euwe Memorial to commemorate this former World Chess Champion and his contributions to chess.  GCC saw 69 players pitting wits against each other from 2 May to 4 May 2014.  Durban's veteran Cyril Danisa gloriously emerged clear first with 6/7 against tough competition. 

Euwe Memorial Champion: Cyril Danisa.

Most at the tournament would not know this fact: The tournament's esteemed Arbiter Keith Rust actually had the privilege of playing a game against Dr Max Euwe!  Click here to see how the young Keith Rust pulled off a draw against former World Champion Max Euwe, some 40 years ago!

Euwe(73) about to play 9. c3 against the 16 year old Keith Rust.(9 May 1974)

Considering GCC's committee used less than a week to prepare for the tournament, the youthful committee with a driven passion for chess organized and run an excellent tournament.

The results after round 7 are here.