3rd ECA Grand Prix entry

The Ethekwini Chess Association will be holding their 3rd and final Youth Grand Prix tournament from 29th to 30th August 2015 at Kuswag High School in Amanzimtoti. There will be 7 rounds played at 60/60 time control for the following age groups: under 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20.

Grand Prix points will be awarded to the top 20 players per age group per tournament, starting with 20 points for 1st place, 19 points for 2nd place, down to 1 point for 20th place. GPX points for each player's best 2 tournaments will be added together to get a GPX ranking list for selection purposes.

Here is the 3rd Grand Prix entry form which must be completed and sent to Divesh Sookdeo by 24th August 2015 to qualify for the discounted entry fee of R100.

Ilembe Youth trials

The Ilembe youth trials were held over the weekend of 1st/2nd August 2015 in Ballito. A total of 125 players entered the trials and the following players were selected for the 2015 Ilembe youth squads. These players will represent Ilembe at the SA Junior Chess Championships, to be held in Cape Town at the beginning of January 2016.

All players that have qualified for selection are requested to submit their contact details to Welcome Gwamanda.

Mandeni Chess Club

A new chess club has been formed in Mandeni Municipality, which is part of the Ilembe district. Siyabonga Gumede reports that Mandeni Municipality hosted a rapid chess tournament on 28 June 2015 which was very successful. We had 56 participants consisting of junior and adult players from Mandeni and surrounding areas.

Players at the Albert Mandeni rapid tournament

Thanks to all the Mandeni Municipality officials, Lulama Qobo as arbiter of the tournament and others who helped make sure that this tournament ran smoothly. The overall best players of the tournament were 1st Sandile Hadebe, 2nd Lungelo Luthuli, 3rd Banele Mbokazi. The Senior Primary section was won by 1st Njabulo Khumalo, 2nd Maphumulo Amahle, 3rd Sandiso Zulu. The Primary section was won by 1st Thalente Masango, 2nd Minenhle Zikalala, 3rd Aphiwe Zikalala.

The new club sent a team to the Mandela 67 minutes chess challenge held in Durban at the end of July. Here is a photo of the young chess enthusiasts from Mandeni:

For more information on the Mandeni Chess Club, contact Siyabonga Gumede.

Mandela 67 photos

Lindokuhle Xulu lost his last round game on board 1 to

1st placed Kela Kaulule Siame, seen with Sandile Xulu (chief organiser)

Mandela 67 results

Congratulations to Kela Kaulule Siame on winning the second Mandela 67 minutes chess tournament. He scored 6.5 points from his 7 games, with 6 wins and a draw against the defending champion, Joseph Mwale, in the 6th round. Mwale was part of a group of 4 players who tied for 2nd place with 6 points.

Top seed Johannes Mabusela drew in round 4 and blundered away a win in round 6 to end on only 5.5 points. Mabu was fortunate to survive his round 4 encounter with Durban's Lulama Qobo. In what was the most exciting game of the tournament, Lulama sacrificed a piece in the opening and Mabu was hard pressed to defend. At the end, Lulama decided to take a perpetual check, in a position where he had a forced win! Here is the game:


Here are the final results of the 2nd Mandela 67 chess tournament.

Mandela 67 Min Chess Challenge

The second "Mandela 67 Minutes Chess Challenge" will take place on the weekend of 25th/26th July 2015 at Addington Primary School in Durban. The time control is of course 67 minutes per player for each game. Here is the Mandela 67 flyer and entry form.

uShaka Marine World has agreed to sponsor us with seven Platinum passes, which will entitle the lucky winners to FREE entry into Sea World and  Wet 'n Wild for one year.

For more information, contact Sandile Xulu (cell number 082 455 4730).

2nd ECA Grand Prix results

The second Ethekwini Grand Prix tournament took place at Northwood High School from 27th to 29th June 2015. A total of 177 players took part in 8 rounds of standard rated chess over the 3 days.

Archana Datharam was joint 1st in under 8 section

Her sister Aarti Datharam won all her games in the under 10's

Kiaren Naidoo tied for 2nd place in the under 12's

Naseem Essa was a convincing winner in the under 14's

Thirushan Pather (under 16)

Yadhav Noubouth (under 16)

These are the final results after 8 rounds for:
under 08 group,
under 10 group,
under 12 group,
under 14 group,
under 16 group,
under 18 group,
under 20 group.

These are the GPX standings after 2 events.

Zuma Foundation in Ilembe

PRESS RELEASE

JACOB G ZUMA FOUNDATION – CHESS IN SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP 2015

On Saturday 27 June 2015, the Foundation will be hosting its very first annual schools chess tournament, the ‘JACOB G ZUMA FOUNDATION - CHESS IN SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP 2015’. The tournament takes place at Umhlali Preparatory School in the area of KwaDukuza (Stanger) from 09h00-16h30.

The Jacob G Zuma Foundation, under the stewardship of its Patron - the President of the Republic of South Africa, continues to make a difference where it matters most - in the field of education and training of our future leaders from the ranks of underprivileged children. Encouraged by the JZ CHESS OPEN success which takes place in December that dates back to 2009, the Foundation has formalized the program called ‘CHESS IN SCHOOLS’ launched in May 2014 and endorsed by the KZN Department of Education. The program is piloted in 20 schools in the district of Ilembe.

Since the program began we have trained more than 100 educators. The Foundation has not only trained educators but it has also dedicated a full-time chess coach who visits the schools and trains pupils as well. The President, in his capacity as patron, has been involved in promoting the game of chess encouraging government and private sector to invest in chess as an intervention to education. “The benefits of chess are well documented around the world, we are proud to be at the forefront of introducing and popularizing chess not only as a sport code but as the tool to unblock the potential of the young intellectuals and shaping the future of South Africa” said Mr Sandile Xulu who is the Foundation’s chess coach.

200 pupils from previously disadvantaged communities will have the opportunity to represent their schools in the championship tournament; each school will be represented by 10 players, 5 girls and 5 boys, while more than 50 educators do battle for a gold medal of the best chess educator. The event is expected to host about 300 players. High ranking officials from Provincial government, MEC of Education and HOD as well as district officials are expected to attend the event.

The details of the event are as follows:

Date: 27 June 2015           Time: 09h00-16h30

Venue: Umhlali Preparatory School - KwaDukuza

For more information contact Sandile Xulu (Chess Coordinator), cell 082 455 4730.

Zululand district photos

Eugene Barnard reports from Vryheid that the "Zululand Chess Association held its first tournament on 16th June 2015 at Pionier High School. The tournament was a huge success with 107 players from Vryheid and its surrounding areas competing. We as the Zululand Chess Association would like to thank every player for competing and showing us that the game of chess will always be played. We would like to see all schools in Zululand giving the opportunity to all scholars to play chess. Research shows, there is a strong correlation between learning to play chess and academic achievement."

Here is a selection of photos from the tournament: