These local players the cream of the chess crop
A few of the Ehlanzeni Chess players participated in the Wild Card event as well as the Inter-Provincial Chess tournament that was held directly after the SA Junior Chess Championships.
The team who participated in the Inter-Regional Chess Tournament, was Jan Breytenbach (captain), Dumisa Nkosi, Pfumi Maluleke and Eddy Bhila. The team performed very, well against some of the country’s best and ended in joint ninth position out of 21 teams. A special mention must be made of Pfumi Maluleke’s excellent score of 5 out of 7 which saw him end in second position out of all the board 3’s. These results includes wins against a Candidate Chess Master as well as a Woman Fide Master.
Some of the children who participated in the Wild Card event, did exceptionally well. Alexander Maartens ended in 12th position out of 77 players in the u/16-division, Banele Mhango won 4 out of 7 games and ended 14th out of 103 players in the u/14-division but the highlight is Lindokuhle Bhila who won the Wild Card event for girls u/12. She won 6.5 out of 7 games.
Feedback on the SA Closed tournament that was played in Cape Town from December 12-22: Dumisa Nkosi faced very tough competition and ended on a score of 5 out of 11. He ended in 9th position out of 12 players. This competition is the cream of the chess crop and only the best participate there. “We are very proud to call Nkosi our best and we wish him all the best for his preparations for the 2016 chess calendar,” said Ehlanzeni Chess Secretary, Karen Taljaard.
