MAX B. Nitzborn recently won his first National Chess Championship title.
The newly crowned champion led from round four with maximum points and remained ahead until the final round. He secured the title in round seven with one round to spare, after masterfully seeing off a fierce attack from Adelino Uirab. His final result was 21/24 and was followed in second place by Candidate Master Charles Eichab with 19/24 and in third place was 2008 Champion Frans Dennis with 18/24.In the women’s category, Rauha Shipindo finished first with 13/24 to be crowned women’s champion. She was followed by Lishen Mentile in second place, who scored 12/24, and in third place was Camy Nitzborn, also with 12/24. The juniors also gave a good account of themselves vying for three top honours in their respective categories. The winner of the junior section is Silvester Nanyala, who scored an impressive 18/24 and was fourth overall. Nanyala defeated Goodwill Khoa in their final battle. He was followed by 15-year-old Immanuel Gariseb, who led the section from round two but could not claim victory at the end as he drew his last game and had to settle for second place with 16/24 points. Christo Retief, who defeated a Candidate Master and a top senior player in the last round, was third, scoring 15/24 to clinch the bronze medal in the junior section. A total of 42 chess players registered and eight rounds of chess where played over six days at the Protea Hotel Thuringerhof. Official sponsor Sanlam Namibia donated N$19 000 towards the hosting of the sixth nationals. The company has donated N$78 400 since 2005 for chess.’This is one of the best classical chess events Namibia has seen in a long time,’ said the Chess Federation’s president, Max Nitzborn.
