The NSSU and the NCF held a team selection chess tournament to participate against South Africa.
13 regions have been invited as well as the qualifiers of the Bank Windhoek Open Chess Championships, However only 6 of the 13 regions took part with 63 participants.
We know that Namibia’s got talent it’s just a matter of resources and time before we conquer the chess world.
Why do we say this: Nicola Tjaronda only 10 yrs of age with 1½ years of chess training at TWCA defeated three high school boys and drew with two? She completely dominated the girls in their encounters. Her victories were against, Victor Nangombe, Patricia Teek, Lishen Mentile, Paulus Shituna, and Calvin Eichab. She drew against Julian Isaak and Eric Namaseb after she outplayed the young lads. She did not lose a single game and came third with 6/7, due to a lower progressive score. Nicola is the School Girls Champion 2009.
It’s the first time that we saw a girl who is not afraid to play against boys. She remained focused throughout the chess tournament and played attacking chess like a genius. Her beautiful encounter against Calvin Eichab displayed Grandmaster technique. She is a definite talent and the Coach Josef Nitzborn promise to teach her more good stuff to rake in more victories. Many of the spectators though that she was a boy when she played, only to realise that she is just a little girl with a big heart and lots of talent.
The overall winner of the National School Team Selection Chess Tournament was Hange Tjingaete a learner at Academia and chess student at The Zandell Chess Academy with a score of 6/7. Hange fought off Julian Isaak in their round 6 encounter which ended in a draw. He however could not convert a slight advantage in round 7 against Melvin Indongo and had to accept a draw. In second position was Julian Isaak with 6/7. Julian another gem from TWCA had to admit that Nicola was in top form and he had to fight hard to rescue a lost game. In third position came Nicola also with 6/7 and she was clearly the player of the chess tournament with a phenomenal rating performance of 1745 according to the pairing system Swiss perfect.
Ten (10) learners qualified for the encounter against South Africa. They are as follows:
Hange Tjingaete, Julian Isaak, Nicola Tjaronda, Melvin Indongo, Eric Namaseb, Calvin Eichab, Uukelo Titus, Dantago Boois, Lishen Mentile and Jack Tjaronda.
Hange Tjingaete, Julian Isaak, Nicola Tjaronda, Melvin Indongo, Eric Namaseb, Calvin Eichab, Uukelo Titus, Dantago Boois, Lishen Mentile and Jack Tjaronda.
There are also 5 reserves in the event that any of the 10 qualifiers won’t be able to make it. They are, Mitch Nitzborn, James Indongo, Kiiga Angula, Paulinus Shilombuleni and Israel Shikongo.
The Namibian Team is ready to participate in South Africa and will be further coached by National Chess Coach Charles Eichab.
