Dr Kwabena Adu-Poku is the winner of the 2021 Ghana National Chess Championship.
He finished the tournament with an impressive 7.5 points out of 9 rounds, an entire point ahead of his nearest rival, FM John Hasford.
IM Francis Eric Anquandah, the defending champion, found the going tough and ended in the 7th position.
Bernard Anhwere came in third in the championship with 5.5 points.
The tournament also saw several upsets as defending champion IM Francis Eric Anquandah ended in the 7th position, thus missing a slot in the Olympiad team. Likewise, another veteran, CM Jamena Joseph Mensah, ended up in the 10th position.
WCM Tobi Abena Felix, on the other hand, won the National Women’s Chess Championship for the fifth consecutive time with an impressive score of 8.5 points out of 9 rounds.
Maud Benson was second with 7.5 points after losing only to WCM Tobi Felix and drawing against newcomer Tiwaa Abena Appau who finished 5th and qualified for the national team.
Dzidzor Esi Dotse, the only player to hold WCM Tobi Felix to a draw, finished third with 6.5 points out of 9 rounds.
Hephzibah Awura-Ama Manubea Tandoh was the youngest participant aged 11 years old. She obtained a respectable 2.5 points and would have gained considerable experience from this tough event.
The finals of the Ghana National Chess Championship is the final event to select the Ghana National team for the Chess Olympiad. Interesting, the National Chess Team is known as ‘The Golden Knights‘
The event has two sections, an Open and a Ladies section, with ten players each.
The ten players selected are the top 5 as per the FIDE rating, and the other five are the top five finishers in the Qualifying stage held from 12th to 14th November 2020.
The National Championship ran from 26th to 30th December 2021 at the Media Centre located with the Accra Sports Stadium.
John Kojo Hasford is the highest-rated player in Ghana at 1995.
Ghana has just under 300 players who have a FIDE ID number, while about half have a rating.
The history of chess in Ghana dates far back to 1970 when diplomats and friends formed the Accra Chess Club. The meeting place was the Attoh-Quarshie Sporting Club at Swalaba. It became recognised as a national sport by the then National Sports Council in 1975 under Ambassador Joseph Amoh Asmah.
Ghana’s first chess Olympiad was the 1986 edition in Dubai, UAE.
In the late 1980s, the federation appears to have collapsed, and Ghana missed the next ten Olympiads only to appear in the 2008 edition in Dresden, Germany.
The country has, since 2008, attended all the subsequent Olympiads.
A full comprehensive list is not available.
2020 – IM Francis Eric Anquandah
2019 – IM Francis Eric Anquandah
2014 – John Kojo Hasford
2012 – John Kojo Hasford
2012 Ghana National Chess Championship by The Chess Drum.
2014 Ghana National Chess Championship by The Chess Drum.
2021 African Youth Chess Championship in Accra, Ghana.
