Lawrence Tavagwisa was precise in the implementation of his ideas at the African Amateurs Individual Chess Championships held in Zambia most recently. He won the under 2000 with a record score that left the highest rated player in the dark, as he failed to perform with the high expectations placed on him. The competition was very pulsating, as the two Zimbabweans left the tournament with the first and second positions of this category. Lawrence Tavagwisa and Tapiwa Chikwavaire performed beyond expectation at this tournament, as they defied odds and came out as victors who battled out the draw in their game and finished first and second respectively.
Tavagwisa drew his only game of the tournament while playing against his compatriot Tapiwa Chikwavaire, and won the remaining eight (8) rounds to finish with a whooping 8.5 points of 9 games played. Tapiwa lost a single game against Chinapu Erick of Zambia in the sixth (6th) round and drew against the winner Lawrence Tavagwisa to finish second, a full point behind the winner and a full point ahead of third placed Erick.
Joster Kadangwe did not perform up to expectations, being the highest rated player in the section with a FIDE rating of ELO 1967, it was expected that he would give a good fight and many were expecting him to win it, but alas, he finished at a distant fifth (5th) position, four (4) points behind the winner. Manuel Pedro of Angola (ELO 1968) failed to turn up for the event, even though he had registered to participate in the event and he failed to inform the organizers of his unavailability. The summary of the performance of all the players is shown below.
2017 African Amateur Chess Championships – Open U2000
Final Ranking crosstable after 9 Rounds
Rk. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1 Tavagwisa Lawrence 1892 ZIM * ½ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 + 8,5 0,0 32,75 3
2 Chikwavaire Tapiwa 1757 ZIM ½ * 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 + 7,5 0,0 26,75 4
3 Chinapu Erick 1839 ZAM 0 1 * ½ 1 1 1 1 0 + 6,5 0,0 24,25 3
4 Ndhlovu Kondwelani 1854 ZAM 0 0 ½ * 1 0 + 1 1 + 5,5 0,0 16,75 2
5 Kandangwe Joster 1967 ZAM 0 0 0 0 * 1 1 1 ½ + 4,5 0,0 11,00 0
6 Lyapa Chisha 1874 ZAM 0 0 0 1 0 * 0 1 ½ + 3,5 0,0 10,00 0
7 Lesole Pudungwane 1861 BOT 0 0 0 – 0 1 * – 1 + 3,0 0,0 6,50 0
8 Zulu Simon 0 ZAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 + * 1 + 3,0 0,0 6,00 0
9 Ngambi Victor 1828 ZAM 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 0 * + 3,0 0,0 10,50 1
10 Manuel Pedro 1968 ANG – – – – – – – – – * 0,0 0,0 0,00 0
Annotation:
Tie Break1: Direct Encounter (The results of the players in the same
point group)
Tie Break2: Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break variable
Tie Break3: The greater number of victories (variable)
Meanwhile in the under 2300 category, Chiletso Chipanga of Malawi won the section on tie break after he was joint top with Chikuse Leslie of Zambia. They both finished with a total of eight (8) points out of nine (9) games of play. Chiletso eventually defeated Chikuse to win the category and with it the flight ticket for the trip to represent Africa in Italy at the World Amateur sometime in April, 2018.
Zhemba Zhemusse of Zimbabwe who was the highest rated player in this section, with a rating of ELO 2125 had a bad start in the tourney but came back strongly and eventually finished third in the section, with six (6) points out of nine (9) games of play and securing a bronze medal, with lots of interestingly brilliant chess being displayed on the 64 squares by the players. The surprise comeback of veteran Kiddy Makwaya did not go so well, as he failed to match the younger generations and finished in the bottom nowhere near the top three best players.
2017 African Amateur Chess Championships – Open U2300
Final Ranking crosstable after 9 Rounds
Rk. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1 Chipanga Chiletso 2053 MAW * 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 8,0 1,0 33,00 3
2 Chikuse Leslie 2094 ZAM 0 * 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8,0 0,0 29,00 4
3 Zhemba Jemusse 2125 ZIM 0 0 * 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 6,0 0,0 19,00 3
4 Malambo Engelbert 1596 ZAM 0 0 0 * ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 4,5 0,0 13,25 2
5 Mubita Mwangelwa 2000 ZAM 0 0 1 ½ * 1 0 ½ 0 1 4,0 1,0 14,75 2
6 Sakala Andrew 1997 ZAM 1 0 0 0 0 * 0 1 1 1 4,0 0,0 15,00 2
7 Bayani Kuda 2004 BOT 0 0 0 ½ 1 1 * ½ ½ – 3,5 0,0 13,25 1
8 Makwaya Kiddy 2017 ZAM 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ * 1 1 3,0 1,0 7,75 1
9 Mwale Douglas 1897 ZAM 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 * 1 3,0 0,0 9,00 1
10 Chilufya Morgan 0 ZAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 + 0 0 * 1,0 0,0 3,50 0
