Zimbabwean top chess player and SA based IM Rodwell Makoto (left in pic) takes on RSA’s FM Calvin Klaasen in the 2018 Boardwalk Pearson Open (IM Norm Section) Round 2 in South Africa today…
Here is what happened in Rnd 1…
Round 1 of the Pearson Boardwalk IM Norm tournament easily lived up to its billing as one of the toughest tournaments of the year. All 10 players came to the board ready for a fight and a there was enterprising chess on all 5 boards.
3 of the 5 games lasted well in excess of 50 moves but in the end there was only one decisive result as a miscalculation in the endgame cost IM David Silva the point against IM Providence Oatlhotse from Botswana.
IM Rodwell Makoto recovered from a shaky start and was even pushing towards the end of his game against GM Sahaj Grover but Sahaj demonstrated the technique expected of a GM and held the draw fairly comfortably in the end.
And here is what the organizers Kasparov Chess FoundationAfrica said as the games ended in the IM Norm Section…..
"The 2018 Boardwalk Pearson tournament is finally over after a week of exciting chess which saw the Eastern Cape chess community pull together to host an outstanding event.
KCF Africa would like to extend our sincere thanks to Pearson High School and the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino for partnering with us. We also wish to thank the entire organisational team from the Nelson Mandela Bay Chess Union who ran an fantastic event.
The final day saw an TV crew from SABC attend the tournament and they also produced a really nice segment report including interviews with IM Rodwell Makoto and FM Jack van zyl Rudd. This can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OgHs7BWl7U&sns=em.
The IM Norm Norm section produced no major surprises in the final round and this saw GM Sahaj Grover secure first place by a full point with an impressive total of 7.5/9. Second place went to South Africa’s IM Daniel Cawdery while 15 year old FM Jack van zyl Rudd produced a fine performance over the course of the tournament to end in 3rd place and earn himself 119 ELO points in the process!
The Open A section was won in equally emphatic style by Masiya Mfundo from Gauteng as he scored 5.5/6 to win by a full point ahead of local players Alexander Kromhout and Kevin Jakobs.
Lance Hobson scored a perfect 7/7 to win the Open B section ahead of Delano Banks, Keagen Meise and Sinovuyo Racaza who all ended with 6/7.
Final results from all sections can be accessed at http://chess-results.com/tnr332205.aspx?lan=1. This page also has the 44 games from the IM Norm section available for download in PGN format.
Finally, we would also like to thank Chess24 and FollowChess for publishing the games for us and allowing players from across the continent to enjoy the battle as it unfolded.
