Chess laurels brought home

Fourteen-year-old Dante Beukes became the youngest Namibian Classical Chess Champion when he beat defending Champion Charles Eichab into second place while Lishen Mentile successfully defended her title. The four-day chess tournament was held at Namutuni Primary School in Windhoek from 4 -7 May. Fide Master Beukes finished the 9-round-robin tournament with six wins, two draws and a solitary loss to Goodwill Khoa who finished third. His draws were against Matjiua Kajovi who scored four points and Max Nitzborn who also scored four points.Candidate Master Eichab lost on time to Beukes and even though he too scored seven points, he lost his title on the head-to-head tie-break.The tournament pushed the players beyond their comfort zones to produced impressive wins.In the Women's section, Women's Candidate Master Mentile scored perfect seven wins from seven matches to claim the title with a round to spare. She was followed by Kamutuua Tjatindi on five points with Patience Tsuses claiming third place.“It was one of the toughest championships ever as 'the best faced the best,” remarked Namibia Chess Federations technical director Israel Shilongo who also said “the level of chess has improved considerably and we're now targeting continental championships.”According to Shilongo, using the new format, the players first qualified from the Namibian Chess Championsihps Qualifiers and later played an all-play-all tournament in each section to crown the country's best. The top three players in each section have now automatically qualified for the 2018 Closed Championships.Shilongo said players who did not make it into this year's Closed Championships have a second chance to qualify for nex year's championships through the B-Section tournament which run parallell to the Namibian Chess Championships. Immanuel Gariseb and Nicola Tjaronda won the Open and Women's section respectively, to make it into next year's Closed Championships. The NCF has now crowned champions in all three disciplines: Blitz Chess, Rapid Chess and Classical Chess. Former Brave Warriors goal-keeper Athiel Mbaha surprised friends, foe and himself when he won the Blitz title while Khoa is the new Rapid Chess Champion. In the Women's section, Mentile won both discliplines and is now the undisputed Queen of Namibian Chess.The Blitz and Rapid Championships were held last month.Sport Reporter

Chess laurels brought home

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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Chess laurels brought home

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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