DURBAN CHESS CLUB
NEWS ARCHIVE
News and Results from 2009

Sandile Xulu and President Zuma

Club member Sandile Xulu was one of the organisers of a chess function held at the end of December in Nkandla, which was attended by President Zuma. Sandile sent me some photos. Here is one with checkmate on f2:

You can read an article and see more photos on the ChessCube blog.

Annual General Meeting 2009

The club's annual general meeting took place on Thursday 26th November 2009. Here is the list of prize winners.

La Lucia Knights 30/30 2009

The La Lucia Knights club held a rapid tournament on Saturday 28th November 2009. The winner on 6 points out of 7 was Erick Takawira (Zimbabwe), with Jason Subke and Ashley Lewis (both Durban CC) sharing 2nd place. Here are the detailed results.

Third Swiss 2009

The club's Third Swiss started on 1st October 2009 and was won by Erick Takawira. Here are the final results.

Round 5 saw club champion Bongani Mgaga lose a stunning miniature to Desmond Rooplal. Here is the game score, with some brief comments:

[Event "Third Swiss"] [Site "Durban"] [Date "2009.10.29"] [Round "5"] [White "Rooplal, Desmond"] [Black "Mgaga, Bongani"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo ""] [BlackElo ""] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 Qb6 8.Nf3 cxd4 9.cxd4 f6 10.exf6 Nxf6 11.0-0 Bd6 12.Bf4 Bxf4 13.Nxf4 0-0 {so far all book, maybe 13...Qxb2 is playable} 14.Re1 Nb4 {surely 14...Ne4! is the move} 15.Bb1 Bd7 16.a3 Na6 17.Ng5 Nc7 18.Qd3 h6 $2 {allows a spectacular finish} (18...Ne4 {was forced}) 19.Qh7+ Nxh7 20.Bxh7+ Kh8 21.Ng6# 1-0

La Lucia Knights Open 2009

The La Lucia Knights club held an open tournament over the weekend 25th to 27th September 2009. The joint winners on 6 points out of 7 were Bhekinkhosi Mgobhozi and Cyril Danisa (both from Durban CC), with Erick Takawira (Zimbabwe) taking 3rd place. Here are the detailed results.


Top lady Azqa Singh with organiser Paul Curry

Second Swiss 2009

The club's Second Swiss started on 30th July 2009 and was won by Keith Rust. Here are the detailed results after the final round.

Vishy Anand Visits Durban! August 2009

The world champion, Viswanathan Anand, visited Durban on the 26th and 27th August 2009. His visit was organised by NIIT, for whom Anand is their global brand ambassador. Here is my report with photos, download version (2Mb PDF). Desmond Rooplal has also written a report on the visit for ChessBase. On his way home to Spain, Anand stopped in Botswana where he was warmly welcomed. See the report on the Chess Drum website called Anand in Botswana.

Living Chess Display June 2009

On Thursday 4th June 2009 we helped create a piece of history in Durban when two games with living chess pieces were played at the Greyville racecourse. I have prepared a special report with photos which you can download (about 1Mb). Watch out for all the fashion! SABC's "Top Billing" broadcast the event on 2nd July 2009 as part of the promotion for the Vodacom Durban July horse race.


We received a beautiful thank you card from the organisers

Footnote: Although this was the only game of living chess that I knew of at the time, I have since found out that there was a similar display on 2nd August 1955 at the Amphitheatre in Durban. This display coincided with the visit of Dutch masters Euwe and Muhring to Durban, as part of their 1955 South African tour. (Source: SA Chessplayer, August 1955.)

Fischer Random Tournament 2009

The club's first Fischer Random tournament took place over 4 weeks from 25th June onwards. The runaway winner on 7 out of 8 was David Choko, who lost only one game (to Sayen Naidu).

Durban Championships 2009

The club championships started on 19th March 2009, and have now been completed. Congratulations to Bongani Mgaga on becoming 2009 club champion!

Here are the final results for each section:
Section A was won by Bongani Mgaga;
Section B was won by Nashlen Govindasamy;
Section C was won by Gumani Ramakuela;
Section D was won by Zamani Mhlongo.

Gerald Boulle (1936 - 2009)

I am saddened to report that Gerald Boulle, who was 72 years old, passed away at home on 7th May 2009. Boulle was a leading player in Durban for more than 40 years, becoming an 8-times Durban and 7-times KZN champion. My sympathies go to the Boulle family.

La Lucia Knights Rapid 2009

The inaugural tournament was held on Saturday 9th May, with a 15 minute time control. The winner on 6½ points was Petrus Ntombela.

Here are the detailed results.

KZN Unite Open 2009

The annual KZN championship Swiss took place over the long weekend 25th to 27th April 2009. The joint winners on 7½ points out of 8 were Spencer Masango and Erick Takawira, both from Zimbabwe. They were followed by a large group of players on 6 points.

Here are the detailed results and here is a report with photos.

Durban Open Swiss 2009

The club held a one-day rapid tournament on Sunday 8th March. The 7 round Swiss was surprisingly won by Sbu Makhaya, with 6 points, ahead of Keith Rust and Bongani Mgaga on 5½ points.

Here are the detailed results.

Ethekwini Open Swiss 2009

The first open tournament of the year was the Ethekwini Open, a 7 round Swiss, held over the weekend 27th February to 1st March 2009. The open attracted 98 players in 2 sections.

Here are the results of the A section and the B section.

Moss Kolnik Memorial Swiss 2009

The first Swiss tournament of the year ended with Keith Rust in 1st place on 6½/8 followed by Sure Mataramvura on 6 points.

Here are the detailed results.


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