The FIDE at the King’s Gate 2.0 is the second iteration of a FIDE rated event held under the auspices of the Bojanala Chess Federation in 2022. The event has attracted a star studded line-up in South Africa’s highest rated player IM Daniel Cawdery, Botswana’s best import, IM Providence Oatlhotse, the terrible pair of South Africa’s perpetual ‘teenagers’ CM Keith Khumalo who is attached at the hip to another chess monster FM Banele Mhango (rumor has it that these two have drank from the fountain of youth since their ages always in the teens), with IM Johannes Mabusela closing things off.
On the day however, there were a few notable withdrawals. Two of the IM’s withdrew making the remaining field more competitive since it was now known that competition for the top spots was now more palatable. Both IM Daniel Cawdery and IM Providence Oatlhotse had to withdraw due to extenuating personal circumstances.
The event, however has attracted a lot of support with even some strong players from the Botswana Chess Federation in attendance. Bojanala players have a mouth watering task ahead to play against decent opposition.
Prestige Section
The remaining top seed IM in the event Johannes Mabusela escaped with a draw and was almost decapitated by 14th seeded player, Thabang Mankga. Mankga played his heart out and could have continued to a win against the IM but gratefully accepted a draw offer from the IM even though he was clearly the one in control of the game.
Another young player, Satish Abinavah played in one of the longer games of the round against the experienced Brighton Mthunzi. The young man held his own but faltered towards the end of the game and Mthunzi pounced on him to take the win.
A Section
In the A Section, Botswana’s WCM Arona Moshoboro suffered against Vuyani Kula and Dumsane Ndubane won his game against Otimile Maya. It is still early days and this section will no doubt erupt in volcanic action soon.
The FIDE at the King’s Gate 2.0 is the second instalment of a FIDE rated tournament held at the King’s Gate hotel in Rustenburg under the auspices of the Bojanala Chess Federation. The tournament is slated to be held between the 21-23 October 2022 at the hotel Conference hall. Participation is broken up into the Prestige Section (Open, 1450+), A Section (1300-1500), B section (1100-1299), C Section (below 1099) and Junior Champs for those born 2010 and later.
For pairing purposes within a section, the FIDE rating takes precedence, after
which the CHESSA Hybrid rating. Draw offers are not allowed before the completion of Black’s 30th move and pre-arranged outcomes are to be considered as match-fixing and will not be
tolerated under any circumstances. Where proven on a balance of
probabilities, players will be disqualified and forfeit any rights to prize
money.
