Namibia rise in Olympiad standings after six rounds
Namibia’s Open and women’s teams have both gained ground in the standings after six rounds of the 46th Chess Olympiad at the Silk Road International Exhibition Centre in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The Open team, which started the tournament ranked 118th, has climbed to 99th after recording three victories and three defeats, while the women have moved from a starting rank of 122nd to 114th with an identical 3-3 record.
Round six was completed on Monday before the tournament observed its scheduled rest day yesterday. Play resumes today with round seven of the 11-round Olympiad.
Open team’s gains
Namibia’s Open campaign began with a 3½-½ defeat to an all-titled Romanian side, with International Master (IM) Dante Beukes accounting for the country’s only half-point after holding Grandmaster (GM) Bogdan-Daniel Deac to a draw on board one.
They responded by routing Tanzania 4-0 before narrowly going down 2½-1½ to Paraguay.
Beukes again held firm on the top board against GM Guillermo Vazquez, while FIDE Master (FM) Leonhard Mueller drew IM Juan Melian.
Candidate Master (CM) Charles Eichab split the point with Enrique Allo Collante, while Bernhard Schwarz was unable to overcome IM Antonio Almiron.
A second 4-0 victory followed against the Bahamas before the Namibians went down 3-1 to the Dominican Republic in round five.
Simon Shidolo and Eichab supplied Namibia’s point through draws against FM David Camacho Campusano and FM Juan Mesa Cruz, respectively.
Beukes suffered his only defeat of the tournament so far against fellow IM Josue Araujo Sanchez, while Mueller also lost to FM Victor Mendez Ramirez.
The Land of the Brave then returned to winning ways on Monday by holding on for a narrow 2½-1½ victory over Togo.
Beukes defeated Yakini Tchouka on board one and Shidolo picked up the full point against Kodjovi Doumassi, while Eichab drew CM Mikhail Strovskiy on board four. Schwarz endured a tougher outing on board two, going down to Kokou Ballebako.
Beukes sets the pace
Beukes has produced Namibia’s strongest individual return so far, scoring four points from his six games on board one.
His record stands at three wins, two draws and one defeat, with the 2324-rated Namibian taking half-points from both GMs he has faced, Deac and Vazquez.
Speaking to Sport Wrap yesterday, Beukes said he was satisfied overall but remained disappointed about letting his round-five encounter slip away.
“My performance could be better. I shouldn’t have lost that one game. The two draws against Grandmasters were, of course, very good. Especially the first one against [Bogdan-Daniel], ranked top 100 in the world,” he said.
Behind him, Eichab has accumulated 3½ points from five games, while Shidolo has 2½ from four and Mueller 2½ from five. Schwarz has picked up one point from four appearances.
Beukes said the Open team is also targeting a category prize as it heads into the second half of the Olympiad.
“That’s our goal. At the moment, we’re in a pretty decent position for that,” he said.
Eichab echoed the sentiment that Namibia remain in the fight despite opportunities left on the board.
“We’ve had a few misses also. Against Paraguay, the Open section team could have had at least a draw,” he said.
The Open team will face Lebanon in round seven today. The team pairing had been confirmed by the time of going to print, although the individual board pairings were yet to be released.
Women climb to 114th
Namibia’s women have followed a similar path, alternating three defeats with three victories to climb to 114th in the standings.
They opened with a 4-0 defeat against an all-titled Argentina side before holding on for a 2½-1½ victory over Somalia.
An all-titled El Salvador team then beat Namibia 4-0 in round three before the women bounced back with a 3-1 victory over Cameroon.
That result came without a board defeat, with Lutopu Khoa and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Jolly-Joice Nepando drawing on boards one and three, respectively. WCM Jamie-Nicole Beukes and 12-year-old Shadah Uanguta supplied the victories.
A 4-0 defeat against Iceland followed in round five before Namibia responded again on Monday, beating Tanzania 3-1.
Khoa defeated Neema Kisanga on board one, Helvi Shuudifonya beat Samsom Bertha on board three and Nepando overcame Mughwai Mariam on board four. Beukes went down to Siya Lissa, who scored Tanzania’s only point of the encounter.
Shuudifonya and Uanguta lead Namibia’s individual scoring in the women’s section with two points each, although Uanguta has reached that mark from four games compared with Shuudifonya’s five.
Khoa, Beukes and Nepando have each accumulated 1½ points.
The women return to the boards against Jordan today, with their round-seven team pairing confirmed but the individual board assignments still outstanding at the time of going to print.
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