(Report by Rahul Beekrum)
Glenwood Chess Club
hosted its first Open Rapid tournament on 1 June 2014 at Northlands Primary
School. The tournament was held in honour of former world champion ‘Iron’
Tigran Petrosian for his contribution to chess. After 7 rounds the tournament
was won by Mbongeni ‘MC’ Sithole.
The tournament
attracted a strong group of 47 players with 10 players over 1700. There were
many upsets and after 4 rounds the 3 leaders with full score were top two seeds
Erick Takawira and Joseph Mwale, and surprise challenger Petros Ntombela. Mwale
went on to beat Petros in round 5 while GCC president Sayen Naidu took a point
of Takawira to leave Mwale clear on 5/5. However, Mwale lost to Takawira in round
6, leaving 4 players, including Bhekinkosi Mgobhozi and Mbongeni Sithole on 5/6
going into the last round.
In round 7, the game
between Mwale and Mgobhozi resulted in a quick draw, with Takawira playing
Sithole for outright first place. The game was never going to be a draw in a
messy position after Sithole began a kingside pawn storm with the White pieces
after castling kingside, leaving his king unprotected. The position seemed
equal material-wise for most of the game, but Takawira got into time trouble
and Sithole eventually won.
Thus the tournament
was won by Mbongeni Sithole on 6/7, with a three way tie for 2nd on
5.5/7 between GCC members Joseph Mwale, Bhekinkosi Mgobhozi, and Cyril Danisa
on tiebreak respectively. The Best Junior award was shared between Genevieve
Pillay and Shayur Hansraj, with Genevieve winning it by one bucholz point.\
