Event: Africa Grand Prix Elite Arena VII, 2018
Time Control: 3+0
Duration: 90 Minutes
Venue: Lichess.org
Winner: IM Dapo Adu (@Dapsay)
Points: 41
Date: 12th August, 2018.
Tournament Link: https: https://lichess.org/tournament/e5pSj36Q
Numbers of Participants: 39 Players, Over 15 Titled Players.
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“You may learn much more from a game you lose than from a game you win. You will have to lose hundreds of games before becoming a good player.” – José Raúl Capablanca
The Africa Elite Grand Prix Arena proudly sponsored by Avantiline Design Limited, an Architectural Design, Construction and Project Management Company based in Lagos, Nigeria was filled with brilliant moves from the start to the end.
Its Seventh (7th) Edition played on the 12th of August, 2018 was filled with drama and intense battles across the lines.
The Elite Arena has grown in popularity across the continent as a result of the organizer-Africa Chess Pty prompt payment of prized money in excess of $300 in the maiden edition which took place in July, 2018.
The reward for this is an attraction to the tournament of more players doing all they can to clinch the coveted top spot.
Pre Move:
The 7th Edition has a share of its drama as the Organizers had to wait three (3) day long to declare the eventual winner after a player @gee97 who sneaked in on the tournament to rake in points via the use of computer assistance was duly found out by a joint effort of the Organizer, the players and members of South Africa Chess Online Group.
This zero tolerance for cheating has further bolster the image of the prestigious Africa Online Chess tournament.
The Opening:
The opening saw the eventual winner having his worst start to the tournament.
IM@Dapsay lost 3 games in a row to set up one of the best come back of the tournament history.
His first loss of the night was to the Fearsome FM@dbestmiles from Nigeria.
The FM using the Modern Defense played a brilliant Nf4! and manouevered to cage the ambitious queen of the International Master(IM). A critical move!
Few Moves later, the IM had to sacrifice his Knight to ‘prolong’ the life of her Majesty the queen.
Game Here:
The IM who was the winner for last week’s edition also went ahead to lose to Uganda FM Harold with the username @Pjdese and Nigerian Eridyong4.
But the Olympiad Veteran was not deterred as he shrug off the defeats to put up a superlative finish for the night.
Other results at the opening saw IM @IMFAR from Madagascar playing out draw against IM@odirovski.
Game Here:
Gupta Approach winning CM KingRazor with the Nadjorf Variation of Sicilian Defence.
The Middle Game:
The middle game saw the big boys being separated for the top 10.
IMFAR was the major threat of the night as he kept on breathing down the neck of the eventual winner in his attempt to wear the crown for the first time.
His biggest win of the night was against Lichess Blitz top 100 FM@Dabee.
Game Here:
Though he had the best Performance for the night at 2590, he was only able to end with 33 Points and thus finished as Second.
@Gupta_Apporoach showed consistency once again as he finished in top 3.
Just as he earlier promised, the South African Massive talent posted very good results for the night.
Enjoy below his win against IM@Stuffings.
He tied at 33Points with IM@IMFar but settled for third position based on a lower Perfomance rating.
With the top 3 places taken, it was CM@Chesscandymaster that clinched the fourth Position.
The Caro Kahn disciple fought spiritedly to book a place in the top 5.
In the game shown below, he got the best of time against IM@Odirovski in a keenly contested Exchange Variation of Slav Defense.
Game Here:
IM@Odirovski had a bad outing towards the end of the tournament with 5 straight losses.
He however managed to secure the top 5 to keep hope alive on his quest to win the Prize money for the month of August.
He didn’t end the night without a flash of his brilliant moves with his traditional Alekhine defence.
In the game below, he proved superior once again to FM Harold Wanyaland using a temporary handle @Pjdese.
Game Here:
The End Game:
IM David Silva(elmaestrods) who just rounded up his tournament at Zambian Open joined the Elite Arena with almost 60 minutes into the 90 minutes show.
He did well ‘hacking’ down everyone in his way except his country man @Kabila who won him in a bout of brilliancy.
@Kabila played d5 on move 25 . A crushing move that was followed by sacs that left the black’s king side weak and with superior position for white to convert to win.
This he dispassionately did few moves after deploying great dexterity.
Game Here: https://lichess.org/J8cPTBBQ/black#50
The Top 3 positions were deservedly occupied by@dbestsmiles in third Position. @Lethalsaint tied on points at first position but IM@Dapsay was rewarded the first position based on his better Tournament Performance.
The other half of the top ten has @Pjdese from Uganda in Sixth Position, FM@ Dabee who is still seeking his first Elite Grand Prix Arena top finish at Seventh(7) Position, IM@Stuffings in Eight(8) Position and the superlative @Dbestsmiles at Ninth(9) position.
The tenth(10th) position was secured by the new entrant @Kharov_2001 from South Africa.
The main drama of the night saw as a ‘fresh handle’ @gee97 from dominated the arena in a manner not seen before to amass 50Points but this was later forfeited as the eagle eye of all and sundry caught him to be using computer assistance and his record yanked off.
This presented another opportunity for the pole position for @Dapsay in a roll.
Who says Thunder doesn’t strike twice? King @Dapsay has just done that with his sterling Performance.
Congrats to ‘King’ Dapsay on his Maiden win.
Tournament Summary showed:
Average Rating: 2213
Games Played: 224
Moves Played: 17,489
White Wins: 44%
Black Wins: 44%
Draw: 12%
Berserk rate 12%
Below is the list of the top ten (10) finishers of the tournament and the countries they represent:
Africa Elite Grand Prix Arena Top Ten (10)
- Dapsay Nigeria 41 Points
- IMFAR Madagascar 33 Points
- Gupta_Approach South Africa 33 Points
- Candychessmaster Nigeria 30 Points
- Odirovski Nigeria 30 Points
- Pjdese Uganda 29 Points
- Dabee Nigeria 27 Points
- Stuffings Nigeria 26 Points
- Dbestsmiles Nigeria 25 Points
- Kharov_2001 South Africa 22 Points
We expect an even more interesting event this week as more of the Africa’s Chess Elite will be returning from their continental and international engagements to participate in our Arena.