Heritiana Andrianiaina is the newly crowned 2021 Madagascar National Champion. He beat a strong 12 player field in the Open Section to win the event with 6.5 points out of 9 rounds. His winning amounted to MGA 300,000.
Tahina Hajanirina Rakotomaharo also ended with the same 6.5 points but had a lower tie-break to take the runners up position.
The average rating of the Open Section was 1781.
Faratiana Raharimanana, on the other hand, was the winner of the Ladies Section, as she ended up with a perfect score of 7 points out of 7 rounds. This section had 12 players as well, like the Open Section.
Christine Razafindrabiaza was second with 5.5 points. Tiana Johanna Rakotoniaina was third with 4.5 points.
Veterans chess players have their separate section in the Madagascar National Championship. Zakariasy Fanomezana was the proud winner in this section.
The 2021 Madagascar National Championship, which took place at the Live Hotel Andavamambawas, was part of the Olympiad selection process.
Madagascar has three International Masters.
IM Fy Antenaina Rakotomaharo is the highest-ranked player at 2487. He was one of Africa’s representatives at the 2021 FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss tournament. Nathan Ateka in comparison is Kenya’s highest-rated player at 2131.
The Madagascar Open team has participated in all the Chess Olympiads from 2008 to 2018 except the 2012 edition.
The Ladies team has participated in the 2014 and the 2018 editions of the Olympiad.
Madagascar has a total of just over 650 players registered with FIDE.
Andrianantenaina Ramalanjaona is the President of the Federation Malagasy du Jeu d’Echecs.
WFM Sabine Ravelomanana is Madagascar’s highest-ranked female player with a rating of 1844. Kenya’s top lady player WCM Joyce Nyaruai in comparison is rated 1671.
The 2015 Madagascar Open, which took place in Antananarivo, was sponsored by the Kasparov Chess Foundation.
Rija R and Patrick Doany participated in the 6th African Junior Championship in Nairobi, Kenya from 11th to 26th December 1993.
The current population of Madagascar is now over 26.5 million. Approximately 1.5 million people live in the capital of Antananarivo (‘Tana’).
About 80% – 90% of Madagascar’s flora and fauna are only found on the island and nowhere else in the world!
Madagascar is the world’s fourth-largest island, after Greenland, New Guinea, and Borneo.
Madagascar’s many secluded coves, absence of European power, and freshwater made it a perfect haven for pirates between the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Madagascar is sometimes called the ‘Great Red Island‘ because of its iron and aluminium rich soils that produce brilliant red colours.
A form of bare-fisted combat called ‘moraingy‘is popular in Madagascar. The intense sport which originated in the 15th century has the shortest round duration among global fighting sports.
The first humans to settle in Madagascar came in around 350 BCE 350 from Indonesia/Borneo, and Africans settled on the island about 500 years later.
Queen Ranavalona III was the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar. She ruled from July 1883 to February 1897 in a reign marked by ultimately futile efforts to resist the colonial designs of the government of France.
The official languages of Madagascar are Malagasy and French.
The fossa is the largest carnivorous mammal in Madagascar. They look like a mix between a cat, a dog, and a mongoose, and they can reach 6 feet in length.
There are 101 species of lemurs in the world, all of them living only in Madagascar.
The colours of the flag represent Madagascar’s history and traditional peasant classes. Red and white were the colours used in the flag of the Merina Kingdom, led by Queen Ranavalona III. Green was the colour of the Hova, the largest class of peasant commoners, who played a significant role in the independence movement.
2021 Madagascar National Championship on chess-results.com.
Games from the Open Section of the 2021 Madagascar National Championship.
Games from the Ladies Section of the 2021 Madagascar National Championship.
Games from the Veterans Section of the 2021 Madagascar National Championship.
Fy Rakotomaharo is King of Zone 4.3.
2015 Madagascar Open an article from The Chessdrum.
