Chess players have fun at ‘tournament with a twist’
Beacon College hosted a chess tournament in Malalane on Saturday featuring various fun chess games.
MALALANE – A total of 123 chess players from the Ehlanzeni region participated in Beacon College’s first ABC Open Chess Tournament at the NG Church Hall on Saturday morning.
The event which fell under the Ehlanzeni Chess Federation, was a merit tournament and was compulsory for players who wanted to qualify for the SA Junior Chess Championships.
The tournament was opened with the legend of how chess started and several players were recruited as “actors”.
Participants were told that chess is the biggest sport in the world. It has lots of layers, is a participation shop, and does not have an age limit or language or gender barrier.
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Besides five rounds of chess in various sections, it also featured stokvel chess puzzles, extreme musical chairs chess and blitz and bullet chess to keep things interesting.
The players were very serious and the silence in the hall was deafening, but between rounds the children had a lot of fun playing outside.
Two of Beacon’s pupils claimed top spots. Mthokozisi Sithole was first in the B section after winning all five of his matches and Bayanda Mabuza, second in the C section after remaining undefeated.
Xander Matthee from Laerskool Malelane claimed the fifth spot in B section with three wins and Joshua van Vuuren was third in the C section with four wins.
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The organisers received positive feedback from both parents and participants about the tournament and their creative way of making the sport even more fun.
Beacon College has a thriving and well-performing chess club and the school was happy to host such a successful event.
They hope to promote the sport even more and give locals more chances to pit their skills against players from all over the district.
