ROYEE BANAI
(1982 - )


Royee Banai in January 2001

Royee Banai made his debut in the 1996 championship, ending in a tie for 4th place with 4/7 (2 wins, 4 draws, loss to Danisa). In 1997 he became the youngest ever Durban champion (note: this record was broken by Nashlen Govindasamy in 2010), winning the event whilst still a scholar at Crawford College. He scored 5½ points from 7 games (4 wins, 3 draws) just ½ ahead of second placed men Ron Underwood and Keith Rust.

Royee found that it is easier to win the Durban championship than to retain the title and lost three games to Dankelmann, Dri and Danisa in the 1998 event, ending on 3½ points. He came back strongly in 1999, winning 5 games and losing just 2 to Rust and Boulle. Arguably he should have won the 1999 title, but for completely misplaying a "won game" against me.

Soon thereafter Royee gave up chess in order to concentrate on his studies. His hard work paid off when he became the top matriculation student in Kwa-Zulu Natal for the year 2000, achieving 8 distinctions in his exams. He left Durban in 2001 to study for a degree in psychology in Gauteng, which he obtained cum laude.

Other Results

Royee won the Natal Closed title in 1997 and 1998.

More details to follow.

Games

More details to follow.


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