Initially, ₦425,000 was the total prize money for the Danhypro Chess Tour but something interesting just happened—the Dahnypro chess tour Organizers just added the icing on the cake. In addition to the prize money and the bonus prize score, the top 9 players of the Asaba edition will be granted a slot to play at the 2nd Danhypro Invitational Tournament which will take place in Lagos State on the 14th of August, 2021. The event is a FIDE RATED closed tournament between a team of 9 adults and 9 juniors playing in a round-robin format (more info coming soon).
To bring us back to the Asaba tour, the first pairing of the day featured a match pairing from the 9th round at the Abuja edition between Okemakinde Toluwanimi vs Emmanuel Idara. This time around, Emmanuel got his chance for a successful comeback.
The best female player from the Abuja edition, Suleiman Azumi Ayisha and Omesu Miracle Chinyere were the only females who made a win in the first round. Other players who had a good start in the first round include Eyetonghan Denyefa Callistus, Matan Adebayo Oludayo, Olisa Tennyson, Gabriel Isreal Ojonile amongst others.
In the second round, Emmanuel Idara beat Callistus, but this time with the black pieces. Idara must have come to this edition very well prepared. Omesu Miracle Chinyere and Suleiman Azumi Ayisha had their second win while Quickpen Deborah, Omesu Mercy Chinyere, Onoja Iyefu Joy, and Pelomoh Jessica had their first wins.
Idara met his match in the 3rd round as Olisa challenged him fearlessly to a draw in the third round but Idara Emmanuel is not the one to be slowed down, we hope to see his comeback soon. Also in the third round, Suleiman Azumi Ayisha lost to Orjiekwe Raphael Chidera while Omesu Miracle Chinyere lost to Chima Mount Zion. This round was a tough one.
We are now half way through the event and things are beginning to get very interesting. Okeke Isaac leads the tournament after 5 rounds with 4.5 points having drawn only 1 game against Idara Emmanuel and winning 4. Pelomoh Jessica stands second on the ladder with 4 points after winning four games in a row! Other players with 4 points include Chima Mount Zion, Afolabi Emmanuel, and Emmanuel Idara while Okemakinde Toluwanimi sits 17th with 2.5points. Okemakinde’s performance is quite unexpected because we anticipated much more. We hope to see him come back massively tomorrow.
The games tomorrow, Sunday 1st, August begin at 9 am and the pairings are posed to be super interesting!
