Staff Reporter
WINDHOEK – Egyptian chess Grand Masters again proved why Egypt is rated the top chess playing African country after they dominated proceedings at the recent 14th All African Individual Championship in Lusaka, Zambia.
One of Africa’s top chess player Bassem Amin won the African Chess Championship with an impressive 8, 5 points as he won eight straight games and drew one from a total of nine rounds.
His compatriot Ahmed Adly also emerged unscathed, as he won seven and drew two games to finish in second place with seven points. Another Egyptian Essam El Gindy, who won five games, lost one and drew two games, took third place with six points.
On the other hand, Namibia’s only two representatives at the tournament found the going tough, as they could not match the wittiness of their African opponents.
Namibia’s Dante Beukes finished 17th overall with 4,5 points as he could only manage three wins, three draws and three losses, while his countryman Charles Eichab took 27th place with 3,5 points from two wins, three draws and four losses.
Egyptians have been dominating the African Chess Championship since its inception in 1998, winning it on no less than ten occasions out of fourteen championships ever held. Namibia hosted the tournament in 2007, which was won by Zimbabwe’s Robert Gwaze and hosted again in 2016 won by Kenny Solomon of South Africa.