Kehat Beukes Chess tourney concludes

Sponsored by Bank Windhoek and hosted in conjunction with the Namibia Chess Federation (NCF), the Kehat Beukes Chess Tournament hosted 70 participants over the past weekend.

Held in Swakopmund on Saturday and Sunday, the tournament was dominated by Namibian players who travelled across the country, and a team of ten chess players from Botswana as well as a few others from Zimbabwe.

The tournament was played as a nine-round Swiss System with the rate of play being 25 minutes per player and three seconds increment per move starting from move one.

Awarded as Chess Candidate Master, Dion Moyo said participating in the tournament for the third time was fantastic. He has won the tournament twice thus far. As a chess player and a coach, he said this was the strongest tournament, which was also tricky because “the contingent from Botswana was strong. The participation of Botswana, the current NCF president and the current National Chess Champion has added rating strength to this tournament,” he said. Daniel and Dawid Du Toit won the Cadet and Youth Sections.

Awarded as Women Candidate Master, Atlang Mosweu said the tournament was excellent. “It was a great experience playing in the tournament and allowed me to learn from my mistakes.”

The tournament’s chief organiser, Charles Eichab, thanked Bank Windhoek for sponsoring Namibia’s oldest-running chess tournament. He said many chess players look forward to the tournament because it is a holiday event that serves a positive purpose: To honour its late founder, Dr Kehat Beukes and enhance the sport of chess within the country.