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.
Royee won the Natal Closed title in 1997 and 1998.
More details to follow.
More details to follow.