IM Balogun Oluwafemi is the 2021 Nigerian National Champion. He won the 9th and final game against FM Akinseye Abiola to obtain 7 points out of 9 rounds.
WFM Ogbiyoyo Perpetual Eloho, on the other hand, also won her last round game against Joy Onoja Iyefu to win the Ladies section with 6 points out of 9 rounds.
FM Osunfuyi Abimbola was second with 6 points. FM Oragwu Chukwunonso and FM Abdulrahman Abdulraheem Akintoye obtained 5 points each and finished 3rd and 4th respectively on tie break.
Interestingly, one of the invitees Isaac Okeke, is only 18 years old and is rated 2191 and ranked 11th in the country. He obtained 4.5 points and ended up in 5th in the standing.
His game against veteran IM Odion Aikhoje was a fascinating clashes of different generations.
WIM Ofowino Toritsemuwa was second with 6.5 points. Enomah Emmanuella Trust finished third with a total of 6 points out of 9 rounds.
IM Balogun Oluwafemi first learned chess at the age of 10 from his father during a father-son bonding session.
He obtained the IM title when he won the 2017 Zone 4.4 Individual Championship held in Monrovia, Liberia.
Balogun has represented Nigeria in 2012, 2014 and 2018 editions of the Chess Olympiads. His performances at the 2012 Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey, helped the team win the category gold medal.
IM Balogun is the only player from Africa to play against the reigning World Chess Champion, Magnus Carlsen. This encounter took place during the first round of the 2017 World Cup in Tiblisi, Georgia.
In 2017, he received a National Award from the Ministry of Youths and Sports as the Outstanding Athlete for Chess in Nigeria.
The Nigerian National Chess Championship is a ten-player round-robin tournament. Nine of the strongest players in Nigeria and one wild card player are invited, which applies to males and females sections.
The prize fund is an impressive NGN 10 million (approximately USD 25,000), making it one of the continents most lucrative events. The winner in the Open section goes home with NGN 1.5 million (or USD 3,600), and in the Ladies section, the winner gets NGN 1 million (USD 2,400).
Orchid-Lekki Chess Club were the organisers of the event under the auspices of the Nigerian Chess Federation.
The Masters, Open, and Juniors categories were some of the side events that took place simultaneously with just over 340 players.
The Nigerian Chess Federation was established in 1975 and joined FIDE in 1978.
Sani Usman Mohammed is the current President of the federation.
Nigeria has participated in all the chess olympiads since 1980 except the 1996 and 2000 editions.
IM Daniel Anwuli is the top rated player in Nigeria at 2330.
WCM Omolola Alabi is Nigeria’s top-rated female player at 2050.
Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups with varying languages and customs, creating a country of rich ethnic diversity.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with over 200 million and more than 250 ethnic groups. The largest ethnic groups are the Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Fulani.
Nollywood is the nickname for Nigeria’s film industry, which is second only to Bollywood in terms of films volume. It produces, on average more than 1,000 movies a year.
The capital of Nigeria is Abuja, but its largest city is Lagos.
The town of Igbo-Ora is known as the nation’s home of twins. Many of the local Yoruba people believe their consumption of yams and okra leaves to be the cause of their high birth rate of twins.
One of the most popular sports in Nigeria is Football (soccer). The name of the national team is ‘Super Eagles‘. They have made five appearances at the World Cup, won the African Cup of Nations three times. They won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, making them the first African country to win the gold medal for football.
2021 Nigerian Chess Championship Open.
2021 Nigerian Chess Championship – Ladies.
PGNs from the 2021 Nigerian Chess Championship – Open Section.
PGNs from the 2021 Nigerian Chess Championship – Ladies Section.
2017 Zone 4.4 Chess Championship on chess-results.com
