25 SEPTEMBER 2015
NAMIB TIMES 37
SPORT
Capablanca Wins Third League Title Capablanca Chess Club has cemented its status as the country's undisputed chess club by winning its third NAMSPORTS Premier Chess League (PCL) on the trot. Gunther Husselmann Chess Club also claimed their third successive silver medals while Indomitable Knights collects the bronze medals, also for the third time running. The silver medallists are ever edging closer to the Champions, this time having closed the gap to a mere two match points. They also managed to break Capablanca's unbeaten run when they scored a shock 3-1 victory with the Black pieces. The winning team captain Thomas Ehrich, who is also an 8-time NamPol Cham-
pion, was subdued to have his club’s unbeaten run ended, but vowed to keep winning the title, adding: “Look, we surprisingly lost to Gunther after beating them 3.5-0.5 with Black pieces in the first round. But what's important is that we keep achieving our primary objective which is to win the League. It's getting harder, but I'm confident of retaining it next season as well.” At the other end of the table, Herero Mall Chess Club and Queens United Chess Club have both been relegated and will be playing in the NAMSPORTS First Division Chess
League (FCL) next season. Both these clubs have good enough players to have stayed afloat, but their commitment, or lack thereof, cost them dearly as they forfeited a handful of matches. The students of The Weekend Chess Academy have come of age and narrowly missed out on third place following their last round defeat at the hands of the Champions. Newcomers Chess Masters, who bought the PCL status of Unam Chess Club, finished a respectable fifth in their first campaign. Due to the mashrooming of
chess clubs, a second-tier division was formed this year and UNAM Incredible Knights won the inaugural NAMSPORTS First Division Chess Leauge, ahead of Checkmate Chess Club and Rubinstein Chess Club. Checkmate made history as the first club to be relegated and then win promotion back to the Premier Division. The top three sides in each division will receive 6 medals, trophies and cash prizes sponsored by Telecom Namibia through its tn Mobile brand. The award ceremony will be held at a date yet to be announced.
2015 Namsports Premier Chess League Final Standings POS. TEAM P W D 1. Capablanca 18 16 1 2. Gunter Husselmann 18 15 1 3. UNAM In.Knights 18 11 2 4. TWCA 18 9 5 5. Chessmasters 18 6 6 6. Poly U-Knighted 18 5 6 7. ZCA 18 5 5 8. Grand Monsters 18 3 3 9. Herero Mall 18 1 2 10. Queens United 18 1 1 ** 9th and 10th Teams RELEGATED to FCL
L 1 2 5 3 6 7 8 12 15 16
GP 62 52 49 45 33½ 26½ 30 16 12 10
MP 33 31 24 23 18 16 15 9 4 3
Namibia Scoops Two Medals At Continental Championships
Dante Beukes and Nicola Tjaronda made sure Namibia did not come back empty handed from the recently held African Schools Individual Chess Championships staged in Gaborone, Botswana. Beukes picked up a Silver medal in the Boys Under 13 section, while Nicola collected a Bronze medal for her efforts in the Girls Under 17 category. The two also added to the country's ever-growing tally of FIDE titled players as they were awarded Candidate Master and Women's Candidate Master titles, respectively. From the get-go, Namibia's players showed they belong as Galeshewe Jane, Marielike Ferreira, Dante Beukes, Aldo Horn and Nicola Tjaronda all occupied podium spots in their respective age groups at the half-way mark. This is testimony to the growth of chess in the country as some of these players had a tough tournament at the World Youth Chess Championships held in Durban, South Africa a year ago. The medal tally could have been higher but for the lack of experience which resulted in shock losses towards the end of the tourney. The rest of the players were
Leo van Wyk, Alexander Bertelsman, Lure Horn, Caro Horn, Keisha van Wyk, Kevon Gurirab, Patience Tsuses, Lida-Marie Calitz, Anthony van der Meer and Himumuine Kamaazembua. NCF Treasurer Jolly Nepando thanked the Government for its continued support, adding: “The Ministry of Sport, through its various agencies such as the Namibia Sports Commission and the Namibia Schools Sport Union, remains our number one partner and we are grateful for the support we've received so far.” The next challenge for these young minds is the World Youth Chess Championships slated for 24 Ocotber - 6 November in Athens, Greece. GARISEB NEW GRAND PRIX CHAMPION Immanuel Gariseb has been crowned the new winner of the Grand Prix Series after finishing ahead of last year's winner Charles Eichab and Otto Nakapunda. Gariseb was rewarded for his consistency after winning the first and fifth legs and claiming second and third place in his best four Grand Prix. Runner-up Eichab won legs number two and three with Nakapunda winning the fourth leg.
2015 Nampsports First Division Chess League Final Standings POS. TEAM P W D 1. UNAM Inc. Knights 14 12 1 2. Checkmate 14 10 3 3. Rubinstein 14 9 2 4. Kings U-Knighted 14 5 2 POS. TEAM P W D 5. The Kings 14 4 4 6. Jan Mohr 14 5 2 7. Poly Rookers 14 3 0 8. UNAM Titans 14 0 0 1st and 2nd Teams PROMOTED to PCL
L 1 1 3 7 L 6 7 11 0
GP 46 45½ 38½ 26 GP 24 23 11 0
MP 25 23 20 12 MP 12 12 6 0
Charles Eichab
Sanders
Thomas Ehrich
Capablanca team in action
The 20-year-old Gariseb who is playing his final year as a Junior, has demostrated over the years that he can mix it up with the country's leading senior players. In a bid to promote chess, this year's 20-minute-per-player Series were hosted at the Khomasdal Grove Mall in Windhoek. Each leg carried a prize fund of N$2 000 sponsored by retired former chess players, including Ben Ngairorue. 2015 NCF GRAND PRIX SERIES FINAL STANDINGS 1. Immanuel Gariseb 40 2. Charles Eichab 38 3. Otto Nakapunda 32 4. Edmund Gariseb 14 5. Claudio Adolfo 9 =6. McLean Handjaba 8 =6. Sanders Oberholzer 8 =8. Simon Shidolo 6 =8. William Kamberipa 6 =10. Dante Beukes 5 =10. Fillemon Shatipamba 5 =10. Jossy Uspingene 5 =13.Montgomery Gurirab 4 =13. Thomas Ehrich 4 =15. Rodney !Kaneb 3 =15. Clarence Campbell 3 =17. Alfred Nauiseb 2 =17. Zacharias Domingo 2 =17. Aldrin Cloete 2 =17. Thomas Kapofi 2 21. Onesmus Tsuseb 1