Day 0 report

As I said before, it’s not so easy to get internet access at the olympiad. The most convenient way is wifi at the hotel, were it not so expensive: 8 euro per hour (also 8 euro if you just check your email for ten minutes). Instead of that I go online at the free public internet computers in the restaurant, but it means that most reports (and pictures) have a delay of a day. Or even more, as this report of Melissa about the start of the Olympiad.

“The Cape Town players had a rollercoaster of a flight from Cape Town to Frankfurt. We breathed sighs of relief when we got off in Frankfurt, only then to be thoroughly searched at Frankfurt Airport. The players from Cape Town met up with the players from Johannesburg in Frankfurt. The whole team, except Henry, then flew from Frankfurt to Dresden where the Olympiad is taking place. Dresden is a beautiful town. We are staying in the Westin Bellevue Hotel- it is fabulous! When we arrived, Carmen rushed off to the gym while the rest of us took it easy and rested. Henry arrived later and so did the coach, Dimitri. The Opening Ceremony was spectacular and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

The next morning the team met for breakfast and wow what a breakfast!
In the first round, the men’s team played against Hong Kong and won 3,5- 0,5. Watu was surprised by a female on board 1 for Hong Kong but comfortably won. Kenny and Daniel won and Henry drew. The women’s team played against Tunisia. They won easily with 4-0. The teams are off to a good start and the moral is good. “

Round 1 report

For the first time in the history of the Olympiad it was decided that the first couple of rounds the accelerated method of pairing would be used which gave us an easier 1st round. In the previous years we had faced some very strong opposition in the first round such as Israel, Russia’s 2nd team and the German team. We were determined to avoid a 0-4 whitewash this year and being paired with the team from Hong Kong we were hoping to inflict a 4-0 victory for a change. The women’s team was paired with the Tunisian team who were making their 1st appearance in the Olympiad.

The men’s team convincingly won their match 3.5-0.5 with only Henry Steel dropping half a point on board 3. Watu Kobese played an excellent game with black on board 1 which included a nice exchange sacrifice. On the 2nd board Kenny Solomon got a convincing advantage on the board and on the clock and his opponent, in terrible time-pressure (1 minute for 18 moves with only 30 second increment), finally cracked. On the 4th board Daniel Cawdery sacrificed a couple of pawns for an advantage in development and to get his opponent’s king stuck in the center. Unfortunately his opponent’s cell phone switched on in a hopeless position and he didn’t get the chance to finish it off. The woman’s team demolished the Tunisians 4-0. (by Henry)

In the second round there were decent results again, the man drawing the third German team, the women just losing to Turkey. Tomorrow more details, I hope.

Good start for both teams

In the first day of the Olympiad, both South African teams scored big victories. The open team beated Hong Kong (with a young girl at board 1) with 3.5 – 0.5 while the women team even scored four victories against Tunesia.

Unfortunately, the internet possibilities are limited. The hotel does have wireless, but charges 8 euro per hour; near the dining hall there is room with free internet access, but only at public computers. Tomorrow I will try to put some pictures on a usb-stick and upload them. Also I hope to arrange a longer report of the matches of today.

South Africa at the Chess Olympiad

From November 13th till November 25th South Africa will participate in the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden. In this blog we will keep you updated about the achievements of the South African teams. The teams consists of the following players:

86. RSA (RtgAvg:2315, Captain:Reinderman, Dimitri)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED
1	IM	Kobese Watu	2369	RSA
2	IM	Solomon Kenny	2337	RSA
3	CM	Steel Henry Robert	2280	RSA
4	CM	Cawdery Daniel	2265	RSA
5	IM	Mabusela Johanne Mayedi	2273	RSA
72. RSA (RtgAvg:1938, Captain:Ellappen, Emelia)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED
1	WIM	Solomons Anzel	1908	RSA
2	WIM	Greeff Melissa	1963	RSA
3	WIM	Ellappen Jenine	1917	RSA
4	WCM	De Jager Carmen	1800	RSA
5		Sischy Monique Sian	1965	RSA