The knights of Africa (part 2)

Ivory Coast Rapid & Blitz Invitational

...Continued from Part 1

To get smarter you must face smart opposition and this is one of the many boxes the tournament in Ivory Coast ticked. For the first time ever on the African soil, some of the very best players from North to South and East to West gathered in the same room to measure their forces.

It's not an experiment if you know it's going to work

IM Andrew Kayonde:

"By its very nature, the CIV Rapid and Blitz Invitational Tourney was a mini school of hard knocks which has opened my eyes to some of the things I took for granted in my chess. The rare opportunity of ten champions gathering in one single event and all bringing different skill sets to the table has really showered lessons that are bound to transform me into a totally different and stronger player than I was prior to the event".

IM Andrew Kayonde left Abidjan an inspired man

Being accustomed to winning everything across the continent, the players were really pumped up for the race. Some used their peaceful assets, Bassem means “the smiley one” in Arabic, while others took out the "assault rifles" as it was the case of "AK47" (based on the previously fallen GMs scalps) — also known as Andrew Kayonde.

Keeping the proportions, it was a kind of Grand Chess Tour in black and white (and in long sleeves)!

Professional tournament, professional look

A more subtle difference though came in the shape of the players' hyperactive and supportive WhatsApp group. It may well be a cultural thing but also a beautiful example of, as Kenny Soloman said, "how chess impacts positively on the lives of those who play it".

The spirits were high regardless of the results

To my shame, before the tournament, I couldn't attach a face to seven out of the ten names on the players' list. After the tournament, we parted friends.

Caption competition anyone?!

The grilled chicken, fish and even (massive!) snails ended our days on a delicious note

But I digress...the chess!

OK, let me return to stats and standings and walk you through the course of the Rapid and the Blitz events with the help of the specially selected examples.

We know that Bassem was a safe bet but how about the other contestants?
That's what the passionate driver of Chess development in Africa, Babatunde Ogunsiku and the rest of us were wondering.

Below there are three fragments with questions the readers are invited finding the answers to:

The closed Sicilian

For players who lack either the time or inclination to study reams of opening theory the Closed Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 followed by 3.g3) is an excellent choice. The two great exponents of this method of play were World Champions Vassily Smyslov and Boris Spassky. These days it’s the top English Grandmasters Michael Adams and Nigel Short who are its leading exponents.

Haddouche and Amin in full swing

If the Rapid portion was taken by storm, the Blitz one was conquered by the same Bassem Amin but with a couple of hurdles peering along the way. And as usual, you can harden your chess skills:

Powerplay 26: Checkmate Challenge — essential knowledge

Checkmate. That's the aim of the game. There are numerous ways to checkmate the enemy king, but there are common patterns that recur over and over again, and having these at our mental fingertips is essential for when we want to finish the game.

A colourful chess event for a black and white game

Meeting the Alekhine - The classical way

The Alekhine Defence belongs to those openings which face White with their very special challenges. GM Bojkov shows you new ideas in the variation with 4.Nf3, enabling you to systematically build up a good attacking position free of risk.

IM Oladapo Adu

The reader should not be surprised if the real Grand Chess Tour will relocate to Abidjan. In fact, it is hard to imagine but apart from Nakamura and Mamedyarov, none of the top ten guys has set foot in Africa. I would say it is about time to throw caution to the wind inspire an entire continent!

The chess fans are more than ready

The tournament is a stepping stone and a milestone at the same time in Africa's chess history. A stepping stone, dear reader, and a milestone too. In the winner, Bassem Amin's words, to which the rest of us fully subscribe:

"The best tournament in Africa"

Final standings - Rapid

All games - Rapid

Final standings - Blitz

All games - Blitz

Combined standings

From left to right (click or tap to expand): (top row) GM Bassem Amin (EGY), GM Kenny Solomon (RSA), IM Mokliss El Adnani (MAR), IM Andrew Kayonde (ZAM), IM Fy Rakotomaharo (MAD), (bottom row) IM Arthur Ssegwanyi (UGA), GM Slim Belkhodja (TUN), IM David Silva (ANG), GM Mohamed Haddouche (ALG), IM Oladapo Adu (NGR)

Links

• All reports on the Ivory Coast Rapid & Blitz Invitational