Lagos Chess Classic 2014 begins

Hello chess blog friends, there is a chess tournament in Lagos coming up with titled players from India and Egypt, apart from several other international players, taking part. This is going to be the second edition of the Lagos International Chess Classic 2014.

The tournament will be hosted at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium and is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Grandmaster Sriram Jha of India, International master duo of Hesham Abdelrahman and Ezat Mouhamed of Egypt and FIDE Master, Degondo Simplice Armel, and his compatriots from Cote d’Ivoire, Lobognon Anderson Oliver and Manan Yoboue Hermann will be in Lagos for the four-day chess tournament.

Others expected include, Ghana’s duo of Jamena Joseph Mensah and Anquandah Francis Eric as well as Kenyan national champion, Magana Ben. The prize money for this year’s tournament is $22,000 while players will compete for honours in three categories while the star prize is $6,000.

The Nigerians include International Master, Odion Aikhoje, and a gold medalist at the Elista Olympiad in 1998, while 2012 zonal champion, international master, Bunmi Olape, will also be part of the party. United States-based Dapo Adu will also be part of the championship. According to Tournament Director, Bayo Babalola, this year’s Section B was introduced to cater for lower rated players that may want to play those on their level or those slightly higher as the might not be able to play in the tougher International Open categories.

“We have more foreign players this year and this goes to show that the tournament is growing each year and it is getting attention from international players while the star prize in the Open Section was increased to $6,000 against $5,000 for last year. We are expecting over 150 participants in this year’s edition,” he said.

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Chess in Nigeria: Friends of Chess Tournament begins Today in Lagos

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hi everyone, 

 

Four international and four Nigerian masters are among the 150 chess players who will take part in the Friends of Chase tournament, which begins today at the Chevron Center in Gbagada, Lagos.

Event coordinator Rotimi Dasaolu, who is also a coach with Team Lagos Chess at the last National Sports Festival, says registration was a huge improvement on the last edition.

International Masters set to attend are Fola Akintola, Odion Aikhoje, Dapo Adu and Bunmi Olape, while the Nigerian Masters, who represented the country at the last World Chess Olympiad, include Yinka Adesina, Nonso Oragwu, Femi Balogun and Bomo Kigigha.

"We are paying appearance fees to the International Masters as their presence will serve to motivate the younger players and also enhance the profile of the tournament which we are organising to keep the game alive in the absence of big corporate sponsored competitions," said Dasaolu.

The tournament, which ends on Sunday, will feature competition in six categories - FIDE, Masters, Open, Ladies, U-14 and U-10. (msn sports)

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Laureates College wins African Schools Chess Tournament

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

More chess news from Africa. Defending champions Laureates College, Lagos has won the annual African Schools Closed Chess Tournament (ASCCT) which held in Accra, Ghana. 

 

The tournament ASCCT 2012, which is more of an invitational from Ghana Chess Federal involving some African countries in an elimination series, and held between February 27 to March 2 at the Accra stadium, saw Laureates College win both the senior and junior categories. 

The School won a total of 10 out of the 12 games played at tournament in both the senior and junior categories , and garnered 6 gold medals and the tournament trophy as well certificates. The senior boys who represented the school won 4 gold medals out of the 8 games in the senior category while the junior category of the tournament 2 gold medals out of 4 medals available in the category. Laureates College performed the feat against the other qualifier from Nigeria, Kristabel College and others finalists from Ghana, categorised into Teams A and B .The Laureates College team senior category was represented by Micheal Amadi, Chisom Nzerem, Temilehin Suleiman and Uzochukwu Okeke – Felix While the junior category had Onyinye Okonkwo and Chigozie Amadi.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com