The National Open, Women’s and Senior Chess Championships of South Africa took place from 7-14 May in Cape Town. The Open and Seniors events were played in 9 round robin rounds, while the Women’s event had 8 players who battled it out through 7 round robin rounds.
IM Daniel Cawdery and FM Banele Mhango tied for the top of the Open section scoring 6 points each, but the tiebreaks criteria were in favor of Daniel Cawdery who claimed the South Africa Championship for the second time in his career (2015, 2022). Banele Mhango clinched silver while GM Kenny Solomon, the only grandmaster in the tournament, won bronze medal.
15-year-old Chloe Badenhorst triumphed the Women’s section with the final score of 5 points. Badenhorst was one of the lowest rated participants, but surprised with great performance winning 117 rating points. WIM Jesse Nikki February was defending the National Champion title, but claimed silver scoring 4.5 points. WIM Charlize Van Zyl was third with 4 points.
Mark Lewis convincingly won the Seniors Championship with 7.5 points. He had a full point advantage over Hans Steyn and Cecil Ohlson who tied for the second place scoring 6.5 points.
The South African National Chess Championships 2022 were qualifying events for the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai. The players with the best results and performance will be in the composition of the South African National team, and the exact compositions of the Open and Women’s teams will be disclosed soon. Follow the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 news here.
Final rankings – South African Open Chess Championship 2022:
Rk.
Name
FED
RtgI
Pts.
TB1
TB2
TB3
TB4
1
IM
Cawdery Daniel
RSA
2419
6
1
22.3
4
2.5
2
FM
Mhango Banele
RSA
2206
6
0
18.5
6
2
3
GM
Solomon Kenny
RSA
2356
5.5
0
18.8
4
2
4
FM
Barrish Daniel
RSA
2281
5
0
17.8
3
2.5
5
IM
Kobese Watu
RSA
2324
4
0
13.8
2
1
6
FM
Klaasen Calvin John
RSA
2245
3.5
0
9.75
2
1
7
FM
Bhawoodien Shabir Hussain
RSA
2033
3
0
7.25
2
0.5
8
CM
Mazibuko Khanya
RSA
1917
2
0
5.5
1
1
9
Willenberg Kenneth Sean
RSA
1935
1
0
5
0
1
.
Final ratings – South African Women’s Chess Championship 2022:
Rk.
Name
FED
RtgI
Pts.
TB1
TB2
TB3
TB4
1
Badenhorst Chloe
RSA
1585
5
0
13
4
1.5
2
WIM
February Jesse Nikki
RSA
1890
4.5
0
11.3
3
1
3
WIM
Van Zyl Charlize
RSA
1682
4
0
8.5
3
0.5
4
WIM
Laubscher Anzel
RSA
1720
2.5
0
5
2
0.5
5
WCM
Selkirk Rebecca
RSA
1781
2
0
4
2
0
6
Grobbelaar Jacqui
RSA
1517
1.5
1
3.75
1
0.5
7
Klaasen Robyn Julian
RSA
1666
1.5
0
4.5
1
0.5
.
Final rankings – South African Seniors Chess Championship 2022:
Rk.
Name
Rtg
Pts.
TB1
TB2
TB3
TB4
1
Lewis Mark
1875
7.5
0
28.3
6
5,5 …
2
Steyn Hans
1840
6.5
0.5
26.3
5
4,5 …
3
Ohlson Cecil
1620
6.5
0.5
21.8
6
4,5 …
4
Southey Andrew
1756
6
1
21.5
5
4,5 …
5
Galleid Stephen
1578
6
0
22.5
5
4,5 …
6
Van Schaik Michael
1578
3.5
1.5
7.25
2
1,5 …
7
Esau Omar
1521
3.5
1
8.75
2
1,5 …
8
Goosen Pierre
1427
3.5
0.5
10.3
2
1,5 …
9
Gabriels Zaid
1357
1.5
0
3.5
1
0,5 …
10
Baker Gregory
1044
0.5
0
3
0
0,5 …