CHESS

The South African Closed tournament took place in Cape Town last month with newly appointed International Master, Donovan Van den Heever, defending his title. The event lacked two of our stars in GM Kenny Solomon and Henry Steel, but featured our highest rank player, IM Daniel Cawdery (2407), seeking his first success in this event. South African Closed 2015 Round 1 IM Mabusela, J 0.5 – 0.5 IM Cawdery D Barrish D 1 – 0 De Villiers C IM Kobese W 1 – 0 Bhawoodien M Klaasen C 1 – 0 IM Van den Heever D Van Rensburg R 0 – 1 James M Bouah L 0.5 – 0.5 Solomons D Van den Heever was surprisingly defeated by Klaasen after his early initiative petered out followed by the loss of the exchange. Mabusela and Cawdery drew quickly in a Grunfeld, while Van Rensburg self-destructed against debutant Michael James. Bouah reached an ending a clear pawn ahead, but his technique let him down, allowing his opponent to escape with a draw. The veteran, Charles De Villiers, was competently dispatched by Daniel Barrish in sharp Modern Benoni. Kobese’s position was on the brink of collapse at one stage, but he emerged from the complications a pawn ahead and impressively won a long queen ending after 122 moves! Kobese, Watu (2340) – Bhawoodien, Mohamed (2002) [C91] SA Closed 2015

(And after the smoke has cleared, Kobese has reached a technically drawn ending which he slowly converts to a win)