An Interview with GM Bassem Amin

Bassem Amin (black) on his way to became African Champion

Priyadarshan Banjan: How do you feel about winning the African Chess Championships?

Bassem Amin: Of course, I feel  happy to have become the African chess champion for the third time (2009, 2013, 2015). The African Individuals Championship is the strongest tournament on the continent and by winning it I qualified for World Cup.

PB: When did you learn chess?

Bassem: I started to play chess when I was five years old. My father taught me how to move the pieces, and when he saw my great interest in the game, he started to bring professional coaches. That was the start of a wonderful chess journey that brought many pleasant memories and a number of titles. Most notably, I became Arab Men’s Champion three times (2005, 2006, 2013), African Champion three times, and Mediterranean Chess champion in 2014. In the World Youth Championship U18 in 2006 I won the bronze medal, and two years later, I won bronze again at the World Juniors.

Bassem Amin at the Chess Olympiad 2014 in Tromso

PB: What are your plans now?

Bassem: I am currently in the Egyptian army doing one year of military service. I joined the army on 28th January, 2015. It's a new experience and during the first two months it was quite hard. Then I joined the sport center in the army and was able to get back to chess: in April I took part in the World Team Championship, then I played the African individuals. These were my first tournaments since last November!

PB: Could you share some of your thoughts on chess culture in Egypt with us…

Bassem: Chess is getting more popular in Egypt, however, the government could support it more. We have no coach for the National team, and the players in the national team get no fees for team events like the Olympiad or the World Team Championship.

PB: What would you recommend to promote young talents in your country and in Africa?

Bassem: I think the best way to get new young talents is to introducing chess in schools programs. I think this should be a top priority for the Egyptian Chess Federation and all African federations willing to make chess more popular.

Impressions from the African Individual Championship

The African Individual Chess Championship 2015 took place from 2nd to 12th May in Cairo. It was a nine round swiss event with a time limit of 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes to finish the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move one. The Egyptian Chess Federation organized the event on behalf of the African Chess Confederation and FIDE. 30 players started in the open, 22 in the Women's tournament, among them almost all top players from the continent. The winner of the open section qualified for the World Cup 2015.

An Egyptian painting depicting the ancient game ‘Senet’.

Unfortunately, due to FIDE sanctions against South Africa the defending champion GM Kenny Solomon from South Africa could not make the trip to Cairo. But he congratulated the winner: “Definitely, despite the sanctions there is hope. The people working on chess are good at heart! I think the problem is related to the system within rather than people. All chess players who would like to represent SA and play internationally are affected and are troubled by this. I am very positive that I will get another chance someday. I am happy that GM Bassem Amin won the event. He is a great champion and Africa’s best!"

Second seed GM Ahmed Adly (right, playing black) from Egypt finished second for
the second year in a row. In round six he lost a crucial game against Algerian
GM Mohamed Haddoucche. In the end Adly shared first place with 7.0/9 but was second on tie-break.

The Algerian IM Adlane Arab (left, playing with White) remained undefeated and finished third with 6.5/9.

Third seed GM Mohamed Haddouche (right, playing black) scored 6.0/9 and became fourth.

GM Samy Shoker finished ninth with 5.0/9.

Final Rankings (Open)

Source: chess-results.com

In the decisive game of the women's tournament WGM Mona Khaled won against top seed and defending champion, WGM Wafa Shrook from Egypt.

Playing with white did not help Wafa Shrook (left) against Mona Khaled.

In the end Mona Khaled won the tournament with a phenomenal  result of 9.0/9!

Final Ranking

Source: chess-results.com

WIM Kgalalelo Botlhole (Botswana)

WCM Rabiu Olabisi (Nigeria) vs. WFM Mwango Lorita (Zambia)

The winners GM Bassem Amin, WGM Mona Khaled and GM Ahmed Adly with their trophies, flanked by dignitaries

All photos from the Facebook page of the African Chess Confederation