Young stars ready to master Africa

FIVE junior Port Elizabeth chess players will put their concentration skills to the test in a battle against the continent’s best tacticians at the African Youth Chess Championships next month.

Collegiate Junior School for Girls pupil Sarah Kruger, 8, Parsons Hill Primary pupils Hailey Bruintjies, 10, and Caitlyn Louis, 8, and brothers Neathan, 10, and Noel Peter, 8, will jet off to Egypt for the tough championships to be held from December 2 to 10.

The five Bay stars qualified for the event after achieving good results at the South Africa Junior Closed Chess Championships in April.

They will compete in the U8 and U10 categories at the African championships, as they strive for a place at next year’s World Youth Chess Championships. The young chess players participated in a Nelson Mandela Bay Chess Union open tournament at the weekend to fine-tune their skills.

Seventy-five players battled it out at Verkenner Primary School to be crowned champions of Nelson Mandela Bay in their respective categories.

The entrants competed in their sections to accumulate points – with the highest scorer declared the master of each section.

Muir College matric pupil Lilitha Hempe claimed top spot in Section A.

Adult players Kulasande Mafanya and Rico Schutte finished second and third respectively.

Section B was won by Timothy Nevin, 14, of the PE Academy, while Simon Riordan, 15, of Pearson High, came second and Lorraine Primary’s Tiaan de Beer, 13, third.

Joshua Lamont 9, of West End Primary, was the victor of Section C, with Parsons Hill pupil Muhammed Baboo, 8, in second place and Collegiate’s Sarah third.

Hailey and Caitlyn also competed in the B section of the tournament.

Caitlyn finished in seventh place, while Hailey, who entered a higher-age category for the first time, came 29th.

Speaking about the battle at the weekend, Nelson Mandela Bay Chess Union’s Marsha Rensburg said some other top juniors were unable to attend the tournament for various reasons, but she was happy with the turnout.

Chess South Africa president Winston Dalpat, who hails from the Bay, said the team was in a great position to bring home a few titles.

Chess players from Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Zambia would be their toughest opponents, he said.

LITTLE MOVERS: Junior players, from left, Sarah Kruger, Caitlyn Louis and Hailey Bruintjies will represent South Africa at the African Youth Chess Championships in Egypt next month. Not pictured are brothers, Neathan and Noel Peter, who have also been...