The Egyptians soar!!!
The results show the following;
Top 30 Open
Woman Section
Well done to the respective winners!
But before we get there let’s do the round by round analysis starting with round six!
Round Six analysis
- GM Amin beat GM Fawzy. This was the young versus the best! GM Adly belied the Egyptian dominance by beating IM Adlane from Algeria. GM Ballahcene beat his countryman IM Oussedik. GM Kenny Solomon drew with IM Chufwa from Zambia to continue his drawing streak. FM Degondo beat FM Klaasen.
In the Women’s section
WGM Shrook continued her dominating streak by beating the untitled Ofowino who was seed number ten. Algerian WIM Sabrina La Treche beat Madagascar WFM Ravelomanana. WIM Nassr beat WIM Jesse February.
In round seven
On the top Board IM FYI Rakotomaharo from Madagascar beat GM Bellahcene. In the Olympiad 2018 the same result was also recorded. It seems the Madagascar player may be pushing for the elusive GM title which will make it a third grandmaster title in Sub Saharan Africa. (Simutowe and Solomon).
GM Amin
drew with GM El Gindy. A good result for El Gindy as it kept him in the hunt!GM
Adly beat GM Fawzy. An important two results as it may determine the final
placings! IM Adlane beat GM Hamdouchi. Well done to Arab who clearly has the
potential to beat anyone. GM Solomon beat IM Oussedik from Algeria. FM Klaasen
beat Sasha Winston from Nigeria. It’s getting crowded at the top!
In the women’s section WGM Shrook Wafa dropped her first half point when she agreed to a draw with WIM Amina Mezioud. WIM Amina is an experienced campaigner and she has been playing for a long time! The race is basically on for second place, WIM Jesse February picked up some ground by beating WCM Zaineb Hwass. WIM Sabria La Treche beat WIM Moaataz which was a good victory.
Analysis of round 8
On the top board GM Adly beat IM Fy Rakotomaharo. Adly who first won his African championship in 2005 is showing his class as he is seeing the finishing line getting closer! GM Amin beat IM Arab Adlane. On board three GM Bellahcene beat GM Kenny Solomon which effectively ended the Solomon campaign! GM El Gindy spotting a gap beat IM Andrew Kayonde from Zambia. Klaasen beat FM Meskin from Ethiopia.
In the women’s section the glorious march of WGM Shrook Wafa continued with her victory over WIM Nassr. WIM La Treche drew with WIM Elansary while WIM Mezioud is rallying late to try to get into the medals. WIM Moaataz beat WIM Jesse February.
Analysis of round nine
GM Adly went for glory and captured his third African Championship at a senior level. He previously won in 2005 and 2011. He beat IM Rodwell Makoto from Zimbabwe on top board. GM Amin drew with IM Fy Rakotomaharo from Madagascar. GM El Gindy beat GM Bellahcene from Algeria to storm to 6.5/9. IM Kayonde beat GM Kenny Solomon whilst FM Klaasen beat Barbaria from Tunisia.
In the Women’s section WGM Shrook Wafa marched imperiously to 8.5/9 when she beat WFM WFM Lorita Mwango. WGM Shahenda Wafa beat WIM Sabrina La Treche while WIM Moaataz beat WIM Mezioud. WIM February beat Ofowino.
So, let’s draw some conclusions from the event.
- The good, silver and bronze medals in the Open section went to Egypt. They are certainly the powerhouse of chess on the African continent. Between these three players, they have won the African championship nine times!!!
- If my analysis is correct, then GM Amin and GM El Gindy have qualified now to go to the World Cup. GM Adly qualified by virtue of winning the zonal earlier this year. I will check on this in a future article.
- GM Bellahcene is certainly a force to be reckoned. He will be pushing for the title I’m sure!
- IM FY Rakotomaharo from Madagascar is certainly a great talent. He beat GM Bellahcene and drew with GM Amin. I am sure that he will be pushing hard for the GM Title.
- IM Arab Adlane at 2479 is probably one of the strongest international Masters in the world. I think he should push for his title by perhaps playing in Hungary and some European events that may get his Grandmaster norms.
- GM Hamdouchi as a former champion will be disappointed with his play and final score. I am sure he will bounce back but for me the exciting thing is seeing Morrocco again playing in African events after an absence of some time.
- GM Kenny Solomon will be disappointed with his score. He scored too many draws so he may have to make some adjustments!
- In the Women’s section WGM Shrook Wafa was simply unstoppable and scored 38.6 rating points to take her to about 2180. Her performance rating was 2390. This is her fourth title.
- Three players ended on 6 point with la Treche finishing first on tiebreak from Moaataz and Elansary.
10. So the first four places were Egypt, Algeria, Egypt and Egypt.
- WIM Jesse February picked up some 10 rating points but overall, I think she will be unhappy with her performance as opposed to her performance last year.
- From a South African perspective GM Kenny Solomon lost about 2.4 rating points and had a rating performance of 2351. His 4.5 points does not do justice to his last African championships which he won in Windhoek!
- Klaasen made his debut at the African championships this year. He played three grandmasters and scored two draws (Solomon and Fawzy and one loss (El Gindy). His unexpected loss to FM Degondo was perhaps pivotal but he ended strongly with three victories to end on 5/9. His performance rating was 2247.
- Congratulations to GM Ahmed Adly, African champion 2005 (Zambia) 2011 (Mozambique) and 2019 (Tunisia) !! he has played in many countries all over Africa and he is a great guy!
- Congratulations to WGM Shrook Wafa African Champion who has won in 2013 in Tunisia, 2014 Namibia, 2016, Uganda and 2019 Tunisia.
- The representatives that will go in September to the World Cup will represent all 54 countries from the continent of Africa and the one billion people that populate it. You have our full support!!!
WIM Jesse February, GM Adly, GM Hesham, FM Calvin Klaasen and GM Kenny Solomon
Regards
Dr Lyndon Bouah
