Danielsen supreme at chess champs

THE Namibian Chess Federation hosted the second Namibian-Icelandic International chess tournament over the long weekend at BluNote in Windhoek.

The tournament was sponsored by ICEIDA and also featured players from Iceland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon and South Africa. Grandmaster Henrik Danielsen and Fide master David Olafsson took the overall first and second prizes respectively.These two players did not participate for the placing or any prizes that were at stake.Charles S.Eichab, who recently returned from Reykjavik, Iceland, proved to have the stronger nerves as he produced a fine result of 5.5/7 to win the tournament.When asked about the result, Eichab said that his result was quite normal and nothing exceptional.He also said that this was the toughest tournament ever held in Namibia and that the quality of the players was increasing.Seven players had 5/7 and shared second place.However, an international computer tie-break system put Otto Leicher and Max B.Nitzborn in second and third place respectively.Celeste Swartz took the best female prize of N$1 000 and Goodwill Khoa took the Junior prize for players between 16 and 20 years of age with 5/7, followed by Fares Fani in second place with 4/7 and Edmund Gariseb in third with 4/7.Ches-Ray Allies took the gold for under-14 with 3/7 while Julian Isaaks won the under-12 section with 3/7 and Chauncey Nakapunda took the under-10 title with 2/7.Many local chess players achieved ratings, which brought the number of rated local players to 58.This in itself was a major achievement of this tournament and the chess project.Grandmaster Henrik Danielsen and Fide master David Olafsson took the overall first and second prizes respectively.These two players did not participate for the placing or any prizes that were at stake.Charles S.Eichab, who recently returned from Reykjavik, Iceland, proved to have the stronger nerves as he produced a fine result of 5.5/7 to win the tournament.When asked about the result, Eichab said that his result was quite normal and nothing exceptional.He also said that this was the toughest tournament ever held in Namibia and that the quality of the players was increasing.Seven players had 5/7 and shared second place.However, an international computer tie-break system put Otto Leicher and Max B.Nitzborn in second and third place respectively.Celeste Swartz took the best female prize of N$1 000 and Goodwill Khoa took the Junior prize for players between 16 and 20 years of age with 5/7, followed by Fares Fani in second place with 4/7 and Edmund Gariseb in third with 4/7.Ches-Ray Allies took the gold for under-14 with 3/7 while Julian Isaaks won the under-12 section with 3/7 and Chauncey Nakapunda took the under-10 title with 2/7.Many local chess players achieved ratings, which brought the number of rated local players to 58.This in itself was a major achievement of this tournament and the chess project.