A grand masterclass of checkmate in Boksburg
Taking on a chess grandmaster as a part of a simultaneous chess exhibition would not have been easy.
Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura took part in a 101-game simultaneous chess exhibition at Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Boksburg on January 7.
The exhibition, which ran from 5.50pm until 23.35pm, was one of the biggest simultaneous chess exhibitions to take place in South Africa and one of the biggest on the continent to date.
The grandmaster won 92 of the 101 games played, conceding just seven draws and two losses.
The winners against Nakamura in the exhibition were Alexander van der Merwe, an u-14 player from the Western Province, and Khanya Mazibuko, who won his game after almost six hours.
The grandmaster made an average of 24 moves per game and around 3 000 moves in total during the course of the exhibition.
The event was was held in an easy-going spirit. The grandmaster made time to chat with the players after every game, and also gave autographs and had photos taken with the participants.
Nakamura is a Japanese-American chess grandmaster. He is a four-time United States chess champion and has also represented the US at five chess olympiads.
Complete results:
U-20 team received third place with the following board prizes: * Lucky Kubheka board 5; * Mfundo Masiya board 1
U-12 board prize: * Shevern Govender board 1
B Section:
U-18 received second place with the following board prizes: * Kevin Thomas board 9; * Mankete Mosehla board 3; * Devon Dortley board 2
U-10 board prize: * Silungile Myaka board 5
U-8 board prize: * Pranau Govender board 6 (only 5 years old)
C Section:
U-14 board prize: * Blessing Hlongwane board 4
U-12 board prize: * Dewan Hanekom board 10
D Section:
Under-14B received first place with the following board prizes: * Ethan Mohamed board 9; * Jude Venter board 8; * Grant Nel board 6; * Eduan de Swardt board 3 – @SabeloBoksburg
