July Chess Tournaments!

This time last year, the COVID-19 situation was ripe and people could only manage to play chess online.

Fast forward twelve (12) months on, and we have over the board tournaments complimenting online tournaments.

Within this month, we would have a series of chess tournaments that would be of interest to Africans, and we have decided to bring these to your notice.

First Saturday

Hosted in Budapest, Hungary 🇭🇺, the first Saturday classical tournament is one that has hosted several chess players, who went on to become top players and top Grandmasters.

The event kicks off today, 3rd of July and will run through the 13th day of the month.

The Chess World Cup

The most anticipated chess tournament of this year (well, apart from the World Chess Championship Match) will have players in the open and female sections, playing differently and having champions in both sections.

Twenty one (21) Africans will be participating in these events. While GM Bassem Amin automatically starts from the second round, another Egyptian will join him (either GM Adly Ahmed or GM Hesham Abdelrahman).

Other Africans will get an opportunity to qualify for the second round, as all of them will battle it out against 2600+ rated grandmasters.

Sixteen (16) players will qualify for the 2022 Fide Grand Prix via their performance in the World Cup and the Grand Swiss events.

The Open and Women’s Chess World Cup events kick off on the 10th of July and run through the 3rd and 6th of August respectively.

The African Amateur Individual Chess Championship

Initially set to hold from the 17th-25th of July, at the beautiful city of Harare, Zimbabwe 🇿🇼. Unfortunately, Covid-19 restrictions in the country have caused a form of postponement for the event. New dates would be communicated by the leadership of the Africa Chess Confederation.

The President’s Cup

An event that has been gaining attraction in the South West region of the African continent. The President’s Cup is Ghana’s premier chess competition, one that has had various members of the federations within the zone in attendance.

This year’s edition has a major sponsor and bills to be the best organized, thus far. There is a likelihood that the tournament will have a minimum of five (5) federations in attendance.

The event starts on the 15th of July and end on the 20th of the month.

Awesome Monthly Rapid Chess Tournament

Holding in the city of Ibadan, Nigeria 🇳🇬, the Awesome Chess Academy will be hosting the maiden edition of the rapid event this month.

The event is billed to have several top Nigerian players in attendance, as well as a series of club level players. It will definitely be an interesting one to participate in.

The event is billed to hold on the 10th of July at the venue of the Awesome Chess Academy.

The First Week Chess Tournaments

This six (6) round classical event was put in place by some junior chess players in Nigeria. The purpose of the event is to help junior players gain tournament experience, while also getting the opportunity to build confidence. It is an event that will most likely grow to become a talent discovery tournament for Nigerian youngsters.

The tournament will hold over two (2) Saturdays 3rd of July and 10th of July.

The Danhypro U20 Chess Tour

After hosting two (2) of the four (4) series of tournaments, the third edition of the Danhypro U20 chess your looks to visit the people from the Southern parts of Nigeria.

The tournament, created for the U20 chess players in Nigeria, will be in the capital city of Delta state (Asaba), where youngsters will be looking to improve their standings or gain valuable tournament experience.

The tournament will hold on the 31st of July and the 1st of August. Other details will come out soonest.

Which of these events are you most looking forward to in this month?

Do you have another event you would like to include, have your say in the comments section, and we may just include it in the original article.