International Master Mariano Amarelle and Maud Benson emerged as the open and women champions at the Zone 4.2 Individual Chess Championship on Friday 31 March 2023 in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
Fourty-two players competed in the prestigious zonal chess competition. Thirty players battled it out in the open section whilst 12 competed in the women’s event.
The top-seeded player in the open section IM Mariano Amarelle lived up to his rating expectation registering victories in all his nine games securing the Zone 4.2 individual open championship title.
FM Abdulrahman Abdulraheem of Nigeria claimed the silver medal with 7 points whilst Ivorian Nicolas Cogan had to settle for a bronze medal. Ghanaian Maud Benson recorded six victories and three draws to be crowned as the women’s section champion leaving Karyah Abigail and Nadezhda Marochkina to settle for silver and bronze medals respectively.