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