Chess prodigies emerge

THE 2009 Chess Prodigy Series (CPS) produced some exciting chess battles with Silvester Nanyala and Brian Haimene winning the Walvis Bay and Otjiwarongo legs respectively. They were both undefeated.

Last Saturday at Walvis Bay, over 50 children from the harbour town, Swakopmund, Arandis and Usakos took part in the second edition of the CPS.After seven Swiss-paired rounds, Silvester Nanyala of Kolin Foundation came first with a perfect score of 7 out of 7. Leonard Nghifikwa (Kolin Foundation) edged out Alberto Strauss (Walvis Bay High School) for second place on the progressive tie-break after both had scored 6/7. Deisy Geises (Erongosig Primary School), Nicole Wille and winner Nadia Liebenberg (both Walvis Bay Primary School) fought tooth and nail for the Best Girl award while national under-12 champion Theo Sager, also of Walvis Bay Primary School, had little trouble walking away with the Best Under-12 honours.At Otjiwarongo, a few weeks back, Brian Haimene of Otjiwarongo High School successfully defended his title, followed by runner-up Nguvitjita Herunga (Okakarara Secondary School) and Ngutjiua Kahorongo (Paresis Secondary School). Another Paresis High School scholar, Daphne Kavetuna, won the Best Girl category.An initiative of the Zandell Chess Academy, the CPS aims to unveil talent in other regions other than Khomas. Event organiser Charles Eichab noted: ‘The Erongo Region will soon take over from Khomas as the Mecca of chess.He said this because of the huge interest that has been shown by the young players who turned up and the enthusiasm when playing the game.A. Hüster Machine Tools, an entity with a long-standing tradition of sponsoring chess, forked out N$3 000 towards the cash prizes, while the British Council co-sponsored the Best Girl category.