……………….the 2021 Africa Juniors was hit by the Algerian wave!
The highest glory of both sections of The 2021 Africa Individual Junior Chess Championship that was held in the Liberian Capital of Monrovia from 28th December, 2021 to 4th January, 2022 went to Algeria.
In the Open section, FM Brahami Lamine (2212), who entered the tournament as the highest rated player had his gun pointing behind the rest of the pack from round 5 all the way to the final round to win with event with 8 out of 9 points.
However, it was not a red carpet ride for Brahime . He, too, got kicked in the face in the 3rd round by Mohamed Abderrahim Taleb Mohamed of Mauritania, who was in the tournament’s driving seat in the 3rd and 4 th rounds .
As he played his last round game against David Leroy Debblay of Liberia , Bramine was in a tricky situation. He was tied at 7 points with the Nigerian Eyetonghan Denyefa Callistus, so anything less than a win was putting his ambitions at great risk . And it turned out that he won the game and his Nigerian rival lost to Egyptian George Samir David.
The Nigerian Eyetonghan Denyefa Callistus finished second with 7 points, same number of points as number 3 Mohamed Abderrahim Taleb Mohamed of Mauritania. The 2 were separated by the Bucholozz tie breaking system.
Egyptian wonderboy, George Samir David , whose games many have talked highly about , finished 4th with 6 points.
In the ladies section, WIM Lina Nassir took full charge of the section’s proceedings as evidenced by her 9 out of 9 perfect score. She was followed by her sister WCM Manel Nassir who finished with 8 points. She only lost one game to her sister in round five.
Botswana’s Naledi Marape finished 3rd with 7 points. Her only stumbling block was the Algerian sisters who beat her in rounds 1 and 3.
Liberia’s chess darling Abigael Karyah ended on 4th position with 6 points.
The winners of the sections were also awarded International Master and Woman International Master titles respectively.
The Open section registered 18 participants and the Girls’ 8 , which was lower than the previous tournament’s attendance .
The countries that participated are Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia, Cameroun, Egypt, Sierra Leone and Algeria.
Defending champions of both sections, GM Fawzy Adham of Egypr and WFM Luzia Pires of Angola were not available to defend their titles.
The Africa Junior Chess Championship is an annual event, which is a known nursery for African chess stars. It is only strictly for Africans 20 years and below.
Another event for Africa Juniors is the Africa Individual Schools Chess Championship, which is divided into categories.
