On Saturday a friendly chess tournament was hosted at the Highlands Health Hydro by Dr Stuart Dwyer and his staff.
Twelve local chess players took part in the lightning chess tournament and played 5 or 10 minutes per player per game.
On Saturday a friendly chess tournament was hosted at the Highlands Health Hydro by Dr Stuart Dwyer and his staff.
Twelve local chess players took part in the lightning chess tournament and played 5 or 10 minutes per player per game.
Andrew Martin of the Rhodes University chess club said “this is to chess what T20 is to cricket”. Players not only had to try and keep command of the board but also manage time effectively.
The tournament was played in two sections. The A section consisted of six players in a double-round robin. Khanya Qabaka showed his skill and tenacity winning his first eight games, losing only to Virgil Prins in the final two games.
Martin had a poor start but recovered by winning his last six games to finish second on seven points. Prins also finished strongly in third spot on six points.
The B section was played as a single round-robin at a more friendly 10 minutes per side. Grahamstown learner Akhona Hlwithana impressed by winning all of his five games.
Ron Wertlen, ever enthusiastic, cruised to second place on four points and Sanele Ntshingana finished third with three points.
Qabaka won R100 for the first prize and a voucher to the Highlands Health Hydro was awarded to Martin for second place and Hlwithana won R20 for winning the B section.
“On behalf of the players we’d like to thank Dr Dwyer, his family and staff for organising this wonderful event”, said Martin. Dwyer said that he intends adding chess sets for use by patrons at the hydro which hopefully lead to further events such as this one.
