Winning moves rewarded at CST tourney
The inaugural Creative Sport Tourism (CST) Chess Tournament saw 061 Crew crowned Open section champions after going unbeaten through the one-day event at Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek yesterday.
At the same time, Grit Chess Women emerged victorious in the women’s section, topping the three-team women’s battle.
Eight four-player teams, comprising five Open and three women’s outfits, went head-to-head in the same seven-round rapid round robin before being ranked and rewarded separately in their respective sections.
Each match was contested across four boards with a time control of 10 minutes plus a five-second increment per move, while teams earned two match points for a victory, one for a draw and none for a defeat.
‘Easy money’
061 Crew finished with a tournament-high 13 match points and 23.5 game points after winning six of their seven encounters, walking away with the gold medals and N$5 000 in prize money.
Their only draw came when Supreme 3D Grandmonsters Chess Club held them 2-2 in the seventh and final round.
Team representative Meke-la-Jesus Hainghumbi made no secret of the quality in the team’s line-up, which included eight-time national champion Candidate Master (CM) Charles Eichab.
“This is a wonderful feeling, I can’t lie. It’s the easiest money we could ever make. Our team is going to have pizza later on. And then we’ll see where the weekend takes us,” he remarked.
Grit Chess Titans took Open silver on 11 match points and 20.5 game points, while Supreme 3D Grandmonsters Chess Club settled for bronze with the same 11 match points but 19.5 game points.
Grit took silver and N$3 000, while Supreme walked away with bronze medals and N$2 000.
Grit women top three-way race
Grit Chess Women emerged on top of the women’s section with five match points from the combined round robin.
Their strongest statement came against their two direct rivals for the women’s crown, when they beat the Namibia Women’s National Team 4-0 before putting 3-1 past Femme Royale IV.
The results saw Grit collect seven of the eight available board points against the other two women’s teams, giving them a decisive edge in the three-way title race. Grit were thus awarded gold medals and N$5 000 for their efforts.
Grit’s Linekela Itembu could not hide her elation at taking the women’s crown.
“I am feeling amazing. I’m feeling blessed and thankful for my team [for pulling it off]. As you can see, our efforts paid off. We had a lot of fun [at this event].
“During the short breaks we had in between, we were all debating what the right move was and what the wrong move was [which really helped a lot],” she said.
The Namibia Women’s National Team finished second with four match points to earn silver medals and N$3 000.
Femme Royale finished third with two match points and took home bronze medals and N$2 000.
The tournament formed part of Emeraldsand Platforms’ annual expo, staged this year as the Creative Sport Tourism Expo.
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