Christo Retief, wins TWCA Chess Tournament for 2nd consecutive year!!

On the 29th November 2008 it was the chess students of The Weekend Chess Academy who battled it out in the TWCA annual chess tournament.

This was the second successful year for the Academy and its students. Only ten of the 32 registered students were available for the event as the rest went on holiday already.

It was Christo Retief, the 2nd year student, who took Gold for the second time with 6 out of 7 and a progressive score of 25. Whilst Romano Coetzee won Silver (2nd time) also with 6 out of 7, but his progressive score was only 24 and Jack Tjaronda got Bronze with 5 out of 7.

Earlier this year Christo, Julian, Chez-Ray and Mitch led the TWCA A team in the National School Teams Chess Championships, where Christo scored 7/7 points. Christo loves chess, is very talented and works hard at his chess and is destined to become a National Chess Champion soon. He even scored a few games against his coach this year.

This was not the only event in which the TWCA students shone. The students was also awarded with Chess Certificates in Course I (beginners) and Course II (advanced) for the TWCA final tests passed. In this theoretical part for Advanced Course Christo Retief once again claimed 1st for the second time, Romano Coetzee in 2nd, Mitch Nitzborn in 3rd and Deidre Plaatjes in 4th. In the Beginners Course (I) two students passed with 100%, by name of Kangwa Chakanga and Jack Tjaronda. Other top performers were Revelino Geiseb, William Kamberipa, Tjitjiri Tjaronda who were jointly 2nd, Xenophone Julius was 3rd, Abigail Julius was 4th, Nicola Tjaronda was 5th and Vetueza Tjaronda was 6th.

Brought to you by THE WEEKEND CHESS ACADEMY- CHESS FOR FUN, CHESS TO WIN!

TWCA took the silver medals in second place during the 4th Namibia National School Teams Chess Tournament 2008

The past weekend Van Rhyn Primary School Hall was the place where the school teams challenged each other for top honors in the battle of minds. Kolin Foundation Secondary School A Team won the team tournament with 24,5/28 points and earned themselves N$1,000.00 and 4 gold medals for each of the Champion chess players, Romanus Shikalepo, Uugwanga Shaningwa, Simon Mwanuangapo and Thomas Shivera. The pawn floating trophy left the Khomas Region for the first time and will be in the Erongo Region at Kolin Foundation Secondary School, for the entire year.

The Weekend Chess Academy A team came in second place with 23/28 points after a nail biting race to the end. TWCA A team players won themselves N$600.00 plus silver medals for each player, Chez-Ray Allies, Julian Isaak, Mitch Nitzborn and Christo Retief. TWCA A lead the team tournament for 3 consecutive rounds and unfortunately faltered in the final round when they draw against Okahandja Secondary School A Team 2:2. This is a great improvement from 2007 when TWCA came 12th overall. The TWCA B team was not too far behind tying with Okahandja Secondary School and Martti Ahtisaari Primary School with 17.5/28 points.
Okahandja Secondary School A team came from behind and scored 17.5/28. The team earned N$400.00 for their effort and each team player got a bronze medal. Indongo Melvin, Namaseb Fritz, Namaseb Eric and Coetzee Abed hold their own to tie for 3rd position. The team dropped one spot to 3rd position from the 2nd position they last year.
The event was well attended by 36 teams. The Schools came from all over the country. Some teams like Hoeksteen Primary School from Rosh Pinah, Khorab Combined School from Otavi, Paresis Secondary School from Otjiwarongo, Kolin Foundation from Arandis, Wennie Du Plessis from Gobabis and M&K Gertze from Rehoboth, to name just a few.

The Weekend Chess Academy sponsored the event to the tune of N$2,000.00. The coaches at TWCA Josef and Max can be reached for chess lessons at 0811227132 or 0811221183 respectively.

Worth mentioning are Christo Retief and Julian Isaaks' performance when they scored 100% on their respective boards. They where followed by Chez-Ray Allies and Jack Tjaronda with 85.70%, and Xenophone with 78.60%.The coaches believe that the TWCA team will do even better next year and are looking forward to this event.

GOODWILL KHOA IS THE NATIONAL JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPION

Chez-Ray , Goodwill and Martin

The Light blue "Ninja" in action

A close up picture of Goodwill Khoa, Namibia National Junior Chess Champion 2008.

Yes, that's right. He got a perfect score of 7/7 in the 1 st Bank Windhoek Namibia National Close d Junior Chess Championships 2008. Goodwill will represent Namibia with other 4 players at the 38th Chess Olympiad. He also qualified to represent Namibia at the African Individual Junior Chess Championships in South Africa in December. Read more on his success story later.....

TWCA STUDENTS SCOOP 9 MEDALS, 4 GOLD, 1 SILVER AND 4 BRONZE AT THE 1ST BANK WINDHOEK NAMIBIA NATIONAL JUNIOR OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2008!!

Martin Hamunyela is the overall winner of 1st Bank Windhoek Namibia National Junior Open Chess Championship 2008 which took place this past weekend, 7 June 2008 at Okahandja Secondary School. Hamunyela got a perfect score of 6/6 and earned N$600,00 a gold medal and a trophy for his excellent performance. He was ranked fourth at the start of the event but defeated seat one and tournament favourite Goodwill Khoa from the Weekend Chess Academy in the first round of the event.

In second place came Fritz Namaseb who drew against Khoa in round 5 with 4.5/6 Namaseb got silver medal and N$400.00. Goodwill Khoa also got 4.5/6 and earned N$300.00 and a bronze medal.

Stephne Swartz a student at The Weekend Chess Academy and the Namibia National Women's
Champion dominated the u-18 section. This under 16 chess player decided to take on the under 18 section and demolished them all. She also got a perfect score of 7/7 and earned N$400.00 and a gold medal. She was followed by Vijanda Karupa who got 6/7 and earned himself a silver
medal and N$ 300.00. Daniel Tjihenuna got 5/7, a fighter who tried to swindle a win from Swartz but she was ready for that too. He earned N$200.00 and a bronze medal for his efforts.

The under 16 section was also dominated by Chez-Ray Allies another student of The Weekend Chess Academy added the python style to his excellent attacking style of chess. This paid
of as he finished 1.5 points ahead of the field with a perfect score of 7/7. Nepando Jolly followed in second position with 5.5/7. In third place came the ever patient Anna Hangula with 5/7.

Julian Isaak a young lad who's opponents shiver when he is around scored 6.5/7 in the under 14 section. Isaak swindled a won game from his rival Christo Retief who could only watch with shock and awe when the drawn position appeared. Hange Tjingaete came second with 6/7 and
was followed by Christo Retief in third place with 5.5/7. Both Isaak and Retief are currently students at The Weekend Chess Academy.

Paulinus Shilomboleni, Theunis Voges and Devin Plaatjes all scored 6/7 in the under 12 section. The only way the trio could be separated was to look at their tie-breaks. Hence Paulinus Shilomboleni came 1st with a progressive score of 26 followed by Theunis Voges with 25 points and in third place was Devin Plaatjes with 22 points. Once again Devin Plaatjes is a student at The Weekend Chess Academy.

A straight A student at school, Nicola Tjaronda, who only learned chess 4 months ago at The Weekend Chess Academy scored 5 points in a row, lead the under 12 section from round 4 until the end with 5.5/7. Even the coaches are shocked by the talent and feat of this young girl. Her rivals, David and Leilani Smaruj also got 5.5/7 but once again Nicola was the victor as she had the highest progressive score of 26 points.

Banti Smaruj, dominated the under 8 section and scored 5/5 with 1.5 points ahead of the field. Kangwa Chakanga came second with a scored of 3.5/5 Abigail Julius came third with 3/5. Both Kangwa and Abigail learned chess 4 months ago. Its just amazing what kids can do with a little assistance. Kangwa and Abigail are both students at The Weekend Chess Academy.


Something worth mentioning is that 9 of the 21 medals were won by students of The Weekend Chess Academy, 4 gold, 1silver and 4 bronze. 14 students of the 36 students to battle it out for the National Junior Champion title are from The Weekend Chess Academy. This final close event will take place at the school hall of David Bezuidenhout High School from 21- 22 June 2008.

Congratulations to all our students for their excellent performance. You are on the right track. Let's keep it up.

Bank Windhoek Sponsored the prize fund of N$6,430.00 and it was handed to the winners as follows:


U-20 Section
1st Place: Martin Hamunyela - Cash N$ 600.00 + Gold Medal + Trophy
2nd Place: Fritz Namaseb - Cash N$ 400.00 + Silver Medal
3rd Place: Goodwill Khoa - Cash N$ 300.00 + Bronze Medal

U-18 Section
1st Place: Stephne Swartz - Cash N$ 400.00 + Gold Medal
2nd Place: Vijanda Karupa - Cash N$ 300.00 + Silver Medal
3rd Place: Daniel Tjihenuna - Cash N$ 200.00 + Bronze Medal

U-16 Section
1st Place: Chez-Ray Allies - Cash N$ 300.00 + Gold Medal
2nd Place: Jolly Nepando - Cash N$ 200.00 + Silver Medal
3rd Place: Anna Hangula - Cash N$ 150.00 + Bronze Medal

U-14 Section
1st Place: Julian Isaaks - Cash N$ 200.00 + Gold Medal
2nd Place: Hange Tjingaete - Cash N$150.00 + Silver Medal
3rd Place: Christo Retief - Cash N$ 100.00 + Bronze Medal

U-12 Section
1st Place: Paulinus Shilomboleni - Cash N$ 150.00 + Gold Medal
2nd Place: Theunis Voges - Cash N$ 100.00 + Silver Medal
3rd Place: Devin Plaatjes - Cash N$ 70.00 + Bronze Medal

U-10 Section
1st Place: Nicola Tjaronda - Cash N$ 120.00 + Gold Medal
2nd Place: David Smaruj - Cash N$ 70.00 + Silver Medal
3rd Place: Leilani Smaruj - Cash N$ 50.00 + Bronze Medal

U-8 Section
1st Place: Banti Smaruj - Cash N$ 100.00 + Gold Medal
2nd Place: Kangwa Chakanga - Cash N$ 50.00 + Silver Medal
3rd Place: Abigail Julius - Cash N$ 30.00 + Bronze Medal

Apart from the above prizes Bank Windhoek also sponsored 1,000.00 chess sets towards the development of chess in schools. We would like to thank Bank windhoek for this enormous investment into our society's future.

Together we do better!!

ICEIDA also sponsored 500 chess instruction manuals for the further development of chess in schools. This concluded and 3 year chess development project which is estimated at 2,5 million Namibia dollars. Thank you to ICEIDA.

End

GOODWILL KHOA IN OLYMPIC TEAM - GERMANY 2008

In the Senior Section of the 4th Sanlam Namibia National Chess Championships another young talent who’s name need no introduction Goodwill Khoa (1685) also exceeded everyone's expectation. He ended in 4th position with 5.5/8 only half a point behind the leaders Frans, Charles and Otto all with 6/8. Another milestone for him is that none of the trio could win him, but had to settle for draws or else…!

Dear reader please note that this youngster took several top awards in the Junior sections. He got coaching from GM Henrik Danielsen a couple of times and are under the watchfull eye of Max Nitzborn. Therefore TWCA can’t claim all the glory for his success. TWCA offered 3 Months of free training lessons to the 2 best juniors Goodwill and Julian in last years Wernhill Rapid Tournaments. This was merely to encourage the players and grow the sport. Goodwill is a keen student and is working very hard at the moment to reach greater hights in chess. He mentioned at several ocassions that he would like to become a chess Grandmaster. The talent and eagerness is there! It's just a matter of time before he could achieve this goal.

Well I would also like to share with you the interview with Goodwill.

TWCA– You’ve shown great potential during tournaments the past year or two. And because of this you got a 3 month training agreement at TWCA. Did the training at TWCA help you in your latest stellar performance?
Goodwill– Yes, one of my weaknesses was to analyze properly. I could experience the change in my game when I started to apply the lessons.

TWCA– You recorded draws in your games against the top trio in this championship, except against Werner who ended 5th position after you. This is a good sign of your improvement and consistency. How do you feel about that?
Goodwill– No emotions yet, but not winning the trio was a bit sad. The championship was tough and really tiring. I might have had better results if it wasn’t so tiring.

TWCA– You qualified for your first time for an Olympic Team. How does it feel to know you’re in the team on their way to Dresdin– Germany in November 2008?
Goodwill– My main aim, since I heard about the team and qualifying criteria, was to be part of this team. It’s a dream come true and one of my new years resolutions realizing.

TWCA– Congratulations and keep it up.
Goodwill– Thanks.

MITCH BRINGING HOME BRONZE MEDAL FOR TWCA

We again stood in awe to see mind blowing chess by the TWCA students in the Junior section of the 4th Sanlam Namibia Chess Championship held in Windhoek from 18-23 March 2008.
TWCA enrolled the 10 best students in the Junior section as per the pre-qualifying tournament hosted on 8 March 2008.

Mitch Nitzborn added to his collection a bronze medal in chess as well as the 3rd Bronze Medal for a TWCA student. Mitch scored 6 out of 8 games. With a local chess rating (playing strength) of 1300 he ended 3rd after Julian Isaak (1535) and Chez-Ray Allies (1494). Christo Retief (1300) ended 4th with 5/8 after dealing with rival Katjovi Matjiua (1303) who still has a plus score of 1 game against him. Another stunner was Tjitjiri Tjaronda (1100) who scored 4.5/8 in 5th position. This boy is in BEG.COURSE I and only got training for 1 and a half month. He won and left behind experienced players on their level in the likes of Chauncey (1156); Spatzi (1143) and Katjovi (1303). This shows that TWCA are STAR loaded.

...And the Success story continues for both trainer and students. On 15 Mar 2008 TWCA Trainer, Max Nitzborn, Proofed that he has indeed on of the fastest chess brains in Namibia by taking the Bronze in the 2008 Namibian Independence Blitz Chess Championships for a second consecutive year.
Max (1905) had a bad start in the first leg of the said event, but proved himself worthy to be on the podium by taking first place in the second leg and with an overall score ending in 3rd position.

...like father, like son...

THE WEEKEND CHESS ACADEMY STARTS WITH A BANG!!

In the pictures are the first students for 2008 outside and inside the classroom.

The Weekend Chess Academy started of with a bang! Last year, on day one we only had one student, Christo Retief who is currently the Champion of The Weekend Chess Academy. The number of students who registered throughout the year grew to 21 but only 7 remained until the end. This year is showing great prospects and the trainers are very excited to teach the youngsters good chess. In the picture are 17 learners who enrolled for the 2008 academic year at The Weekend Chess Academy.

The coming weekend, 26 January 2008 we expect more students and that will conclude our registrations for 2008. Two talented juniors namely, Julian Isaaks and Goodwill Khoa who won 2 months of chess training at the Wernhil Park Rapid Chess Grand Prix last year will also join the group during the year. We would like to encourage parents to register their children this weekend to avoid disappointment. To the children - We welcome you all and trust that you will have a great year at TWCA.

To the parents - you invest in your children's future, congratulations!


We are grateful to Orban Primary School for their assistance in kind. With a venue to teach chess we can go a long way in the future.

For more information please contact Josef at 0811227132 or Max at 0811221183.

CHESS IS FUN, CHESS IS FUN, CHESS IS FUN, CHESS IS FUN, CHESS IS FUN.......