In February 2020 Chess Western Province hosted the annual Cape of Good Hope Open as its traditional first tournament of the year. Do you have some time? Have you ever wondered when the event started and why did it start? I wonder about these aspects. So, I decided before I jump into the report of this year, I will take a trip down memory lane. Do you recall when JR Ewing was shot? Did you know that South Africa came to a standstill on that fateful Tuesday night? I think I also started supporting Tottenham Hotspurs that year because they won the FA Cup when the beat Manchester City. The year was you guessed it…- 1981!
Nick Barnett in a great article in the March SA Chessplayer 1981 edition picks up the action. He writes on page 17 that,” the idea of a holding a chess tournament in conjunction with the Cape’s premier Agricultural and Industrial Show was the brainchild of the Western Province Agricultural Society’s Chairman, Mr Chris Muller. He received a little help from Errol Fyfe’s Cape Town office, a public relations firm which incidentally handles Oude Meester. This year (1981) the Cape Show celebrated its 150th anniversary since its first venture on GreenPoint Common. Now the country’s number two Show after the Rand Show, this year’s event ran for a fortnight. The idea was to put culture into agriculture by holding a chess tournament during the second week.”
The event turned out to be a triumph for 15-year-old Donald McFarlane who won the event ahead of Charles De Villiers who had just returned from France. There were 58 competitors. Let’s look at a few games from that event. Jacques Tsalicoglou became the first player to beat De Villiers in 41 games of tournament chess. Let’s look at the critical moment: what should White play?
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Jacques Tsalicoglou played 31. Qxg6+ Kxg6 and followed up with 32. Be6. To reach the following position: White won the brilliancy prize for his original queen sacrifice. Enjoy the game.
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(440) Tsalicoglou,J – de Villiers,C [A35]
SA81pg38, Cape Show Open,CT, 1981
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4 0–0 6.Be2 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nc6 8.0–0 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 d6
10.Qh4 a6 11.Rb1 Bd7 12.e4 b5 13.Bh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 Bc6 15.Qe3 b4 16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.exd5 Qc7
18.h4 Qa7 19.Qf4 h5 20.Rbd1 Rfc8 21.Rd3 Rc5 22.g4 hxg4 23.Bxg4 Kg7 24.h5 Rh8 25.hxg6 fxg6
26.Rg3 Rh6 27.Re1 Rc7 28.Ree3 Qc5 29.Rgf3 g5 30.Qxg5+ Rg6 31.Qxg6+ Kxg6 32.Be6 Nh5
33.Re4 b3 34.Rg4+ Kh6 35.axb3 Qa5 36.Rf5 Qe1+ 37.Kg2 Qe2 38.Rh4 Kg6 39.Rfxh5 Qxh5
40.Bf7+ Kxf7 41.Rxh5 Kf6 1–0
Another interesting game was played by Mark Levitt as Black against Cunningham. What would you play as white in this position?
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Indeed, Cunningham played 28. Rxf8+ Kxf8 but cannot capture on g6 because then d4+ is mate! A nicely played game by the young Mark Levitt!
(438) Back Cunningham,E – Levitt,M [A45]
SA81pg41,Cape Show Open,CT, 1981
1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d5 3.Bd3 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nd2 g6 6.f4 Bg7 7.Ngf3 0–0 8.0–0 b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.g4 Qc7
11.Qf3 Nd7 12.Qg3 f6 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Bxg6 Rfe8 15.Qh3 Nf8 16.Bxe8 Rxe8 17.g5 fxg5 18.fxg5
e5 19.Qh5 Qd7 20.b3 exd4 21.cxd4 Rxe3 22.Nf3 Rxf3 23.Qxf3 Nxd4 24.Qh5 Qe7 25.Bd2 Ne2+
26.Kh1 Qe4+ 27.Rf3 Qg6 28.Rxf8+ Kxf8 29.Rf1+ Kg8 30.Qxe2 d4+ 31.Rf3 d3 32.Qd1 Qh5 33.Kg2 Qg4+ 34.Kf2 Bd4+ 35.Be3 Bxe3+ 36.Kxe3 Qe4+ 37.Kf2 d2 38.Rg3 Qf4+ 39.Kg1 Qd4+ 40.Kf1 Ba6+ 41.Kg2 Qf4 0–1
The results of that event:
First prize (R300) (R2300 in today’s terms) – Donald McFarlane with 6/7.
2nd to 4th with R100 each Theodore Buttress, Charles De Villiers, Jacques Tsalicoglou and in the 1600-1799 category winning R25 with 5/7 was David Gluckman and Kevin Mcmanus with Ivan Gluckman winning the Primary School prize of R50.
Well let’s jump back to the future and zoom right into 2020! Now this event traditionally kicks off the Cape season. This year the event was held in February. The event was divided into various categories. This report will concentrate on the top section with the other sections shown in their tables and with a few pictures.
The event was always going to be a good contest between FM Calvin Klaasen and IM Watu Kobese. Both former SA Closed Champions, these two players have come to dominate the tournament scene in Cape Town. This year though Michael James, Warrick Erlank and some youngsters like Paul Gluckman and Albrecht Van Zyl were all vying for honours. Ultimately the event was won by IM Watu Kobese who showed that he is still the Lion of Africa.
Winner IM Watu Kobese
Kobese has been winning events since the 80’s and continues to show himself as the player to beat in Swiss events! He certainly has big match temperament. Kobese beat Klaasen in a strategic game where he was better but Klaasen defended well. In the time scramble however Klaasen gave Kobese one chance which he took.
I enjoy the beauty of chess so let’s indulge ourselves in some of the games.
In the following position Dr Bhawoodien showed the youngster Schnabel some tactical shots! What did he play in the following position?
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The black position has two rooks, two Bishops and a queen in the vicinity of the white king. Black
went for ……
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The rook crashes in as the square h3 is the critical one and the Ng3 will be captured as the Bc5 is pinning the f pawn! The final moves were: 35. Nxg3 Qh3+, 36. Kg1 Qxg3+ 37. Kh1 Qh3+ 38. Kg1 Qg4+ and 0-1. The lesson here is that accurate calculation was all that was necessary to deliver the death blows.
Craig Fraser from Blackjacks loves his chess and loves his tactics. What did he play as White here against Carelse?
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Rd6 wins a piece as the queen has no safe square!
The following game is a tactical melee which I enjoyed very much. Opening theory has developed to such a degree that you must really stay on top of your game. Let’s look at the following position:
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Erlank has just sacrificed his Bishop on b5. So, what should Black play? Well the move chosen was 12 Ra4 to which White replied 13. b4. The complications are immense, and I leave it to the intrepid readers to work out the complications!!
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In this position the Black king has ventured to far and after Ke6 white played Rf6 winning the queen. A great game. Enjoy the game when you play through it. The game was played imaginately by both players!
(22) Erlank,W – Gluckman,P [B33]
(3), 22.02.2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bxb5 axb5 12.Nxb5 Ra4 13.b4 Rxb4 14.Nbc7+ Kd7 15.0–0 Qg5 16.Nxb4 Rg8 17.g3 Nxb4 18.Rb1 Nc6 19.Nd5 Ke6 20.Rb6 Bd7 21.f4 exf4 22.exf5+ Kxf5 23.Rxf4+ Ke6 24.Rf6+ Qxf6 25.Nxf6 Kxf6 26.Qf3+ Ke6 27.Rxc6 Bxc6 28.Qxc6 Bg7 29.Qe4+ Be5 30.Qxh7 Rb8 31.Qd3 Rb4
32.Kg2 Kf6 33.a3 Rd4 34.Qe3 Kg6 35.h4 f6 36.Kf3 Kg7 37.Qb3 f5 38.Qe6 Rg4 39.Qxf5 Rxg3+
40.Kf2 Rxa3 41.h5 Ra7 42.Ke3 Ra1 43.Qg6+ Kh8 44.Ke4 Rf1 45.h6 Re1+ 46.Kd5 Rh1 47.h7 Rxh7
48.c4 Rg7 49.Qh6+ Kg8 50.c5 dxc5 51.Kxe5 Re7+ 52.Kd6 Rf7 53.Kxc5 Re7 54.Kd6 Rf7 55.Qh5 Kg7 56.Qg5+ Kf8 57.Ke6 1–0
FM Bhawoodien is making a habit of handing out lessons to the youngsters. What did he play here against Van Zyl?
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Rxd7 is the move as Bxf6 continues the attack!
How did the former SA over 65 champion win this position as Black? Stephen Gallied vs. Gordon Lawrence.
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Black found the idea of moving his King to h3! And then secured the win!
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The same position but look at the position of the black King. Many players are sometimes impatient. Here our older champions show us that with patience comes the victory! Enjoy the game and endgame technique. The King is indeed a fighting piece as Black showed in this game.
Michael James is a very tactical player. What did James play here as white against Seth Riley Adams?
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James realises that the Nf6 is pinned and the Rh8 is overloaded so….. Rxh7+ was essayed which led
to the win of the black queen on c8.
James needed to end the game against Adams who was still resisting. What should white play here?
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James realises that the black rooks are looking clumsy so after pawn to c4 black replied Rc5 and he was forced to resign after pawn to b4!
Enjoy the game. (33) James,M – Adams,S [B94]
(4), 23.02.2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qd2 Qc7 8.0–0–0 g6 9.Kb1 Bg7
10.Bh6 0–0 11.Be2 b5 12.h4 b4 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Nf6 15.h5 Bd7 16.hxg6 fxg6 17.Bxg7 Kxg7
18.Qh6+ Kf7 19.g4 Rh8 20.Qf4 g5 21.Qxg5 Rag8 22.Qf4 Bxg4 23.Bxg4 Rxg4 24.Qf5 Qc8
25.Rxh7+ Rxh7 26.Qxc8 Rxd4 27.Qe6+ Kf8 28.Re1 Rxd5 29.Qc8+ Kf7 30.Qxa6 Rh2 31.a4 bxa3
32.Qxa3 Rhh5 33.f4 Rhf5 34.Qe3 Ng8 35.c4 Rc5 36.b4 1–0
Lutho Mfazwe is a dangerous attacking player. What did he play here against Manyasta.
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He went for Rxf2+ creating immense complications which led to the win of the white queen on e4!
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So now after Rc1+ white was forced to play Ke2 which allowed Re1+
(49) Manyasta,C – Mfazwe,L [B86]
(5), 23.02.2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.Be3 Qc7 9.Qe2 b5 10.f3 Nc6 11.Nxc6 Qxc6 12.0–0–0 Bd7 13.g4 b4 14.Na4 Qb7 15.Nb6 Bb5 16.Bc4 Bxc4 17.Qxc4 Rb8 18.g5 Nd7 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20.f4 0–0 21.h4 Rfc8 22.Qb3 a5 23.g6 a4 24.gxf7+ Kh8 25.Qd3 b3
26.axb3 Rxb3 27.Qd4 Qc6 28.Rh2 a3 29.bxa3 d5 30.Rd3 Bxa3+ 31.Kd1 Rb1+ 32.Ke2 Qxc2+
33.Rd2 Qc1 34.Rf2 Qe1+ 35.Kf3 Qh1+ 36.Rg2 Rf1+ 37.Bf2 dxe4+ 38.Qxe4 Rc3+ 39.Ke2 Rxf2+
40.Kxf2 Qxh4+ 41.Kf1 Rc1+ 42.Ke2 Re1+ 43.Kd3 Qh3+ 44.Kd4 Rxe4+ 45.Kxe4 Qf5+ 46.Kf3 Qxf7
47.Rde2 Bd6 0–1
Andrew Mc Innes from UCT loves his chess and in particular he has a flair for attacking chess. What did Mcinnes play here against Johnson?
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Mcinnes played Rd1+ as Qf1 is mate once the Bf3 captures on d1!
It is normally said that one shouldn’t capture the pawn on b7 or b2. What did Seth Riley Adams play here as Black against Trevor April who has just played Qxa7?
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Riley, a former SA under 12 champion a few years ago played Nc5 trapping the queen as there are no return squares!
The fast time control didn’t allow for the following game to be captured completely but I loved the pawn race on both sides! Enjoy the game!
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(61) Kleinsmidt,C – Gluckman,P [B23]
(6), 23.02.2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Nge2 Bg7 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.d3 0–0 7.0–0 Na5 8.f4 Nxc4 9.dxc4 d6 10.Qd3 a6 11.h3 Bd7 12.Be3 b5 13.Rad1 Bc6 14.e5 dxe5 15.Qxd8 Rfxd8 16.Bxc5 exf4 17.Nd4 Bb7 18.cxb5 axb5 19.Ndxb5 e5 20.b4 Nd5 21.Nxd5 Bxd5 22.Nc7 Bc4 23.Nxa8 Rxa8 24.a4 Bxf1 25.Kxf1 e4 26.a5 Bc3 27.Ke2 f5 28.Rd7 h5 29.Rd6 Kf7 30.a6 Be5 31.Rb6 g5 32.Rb7+ Ke6 33.a7 Kd5 34.Rh7 g4 35.Rxh5 f3+ 36.Kf1 Ke6 37.Rh6+ Kd5 38.hxg4 fxg4 39.Rh5 g3 40.c4+ Ke6 41.Rh6+ Kf5 42.Rh4 ½–½
What move did IM Kobese play against Warrick Erlank which effectively clinched the event?
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The move was 24 Rd7! It has such a great geometric feel to it because of course if the rook captures then the Nf6 forks the black king and queen on e8. Black made a few more moves but Kobese mopped up efficiently to take the title.
(63) Kobese,W – Erlank,W [B34]
(6), 23.02.2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Ng8 9.Bd4 f6
10.f4 Nh6 11.Bc4 d5 12.exd6 Qxd6 13.Qf3 Be6 14.Qe2 Bxc4 15.Qxc4 Nf7 16.0–0 0–0 17.Rae1 e5
18.fxe5 fxe5 19.Bc5 Qc7 20.Bxf8 Bxf8 21.Ne4 Kg7 22.Rd1 Re8 23.Nf6 Re7 24.Rd7 Qb6+ 25.Kh1
Qb5 26.Qxb5 cxb5 27.Ne8+ Kg8 28.Rxe7 Bxe7 29.Nc7 Nd6 30.Re1 e4 31.Nd5 Bg5 32.g3 Kf7 33.Nc3 Bd2 34.Nxe4 Bxe1 35.Nxd6+ Ke7 36.Nxb5 a6 37.Nd4 1–0
Mfazwe sacrificed his queen in the following Grunfeld. I however enjoyed the final position as it was again a unique mate! What did White play here?
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- R8c7+ forces the king to move which it did with Kg6. This in turn was followed by 45. Nf4+ Kg5
- h4+ Kg4 47. Rg7 Kf3 48. Rf1++
(65) Mfazwe,L – Martin,N [D97]
(6), 23.02.2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0–0 7.e4 Nc6 8.e5 Be6 9.exf6 Bxc4
10.fxg7 Kxg7 11.Bxc4 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Be2 Qb6 14.0–0 c6 15.Rb1 Rfd8 16.Be3 Qc7
17.Rfe1 h6 18.Rbc1 Rd7 19.Na4 e5 20.Nc5 Re7 21.b4 b6 22.Nb3 Qd6 23.Rc4 Rc8 24.Rec1 f5
25.f4 Kh8 26.Bf3 e4 27.Be2 Rd7 28.a4 Rcd8 29.g3 Qe7 30.a5 b5 31.Bc5 Qf7 32.R4c3 Qf6 33.Be3 Qf8 34.Nc5 Re7 35.Bd1 Qf6 36.Bb3 g5 37.a6 gxf4 38.Bxf4 Qd4+ 39.Be3 Qxb4 40.Be6 Rxe6 41.Nxe6 Rd3 42.Rxc6 Rxe3 43.Rc8+ Kh7 44.R8c7+ Kg6 45.Nf4+ Kg5 46.h4+ Kg4 47.Rg7+ Kf3
48.Rf1# 1–0
Other Sections:
Prestige:
Top 20
Open:
Top 20
U10:
U8:
Do enjoy the rest of the week!
Regards
Lyndon Bouah
