In the month of July all roads in South African Chess lead to Durban which will be hosting the South African Open Chess championships 2017. Glenwood High School will be hosting the Championships from Friday 14th July to Saturday 22 July. The tournament will be run by the KZN Chess Association in conjunction with chess SA. The tournament will be run under the auspices of FIDE, the World Chess Federation.
Speaking about the event, Erick Takawira, the KZN Chess Association president, remarked they were looking forward to welcoming chess players to the province. They were finalising preparations for that promises to be a great event.
Chess players from across the country as well as those outside South Africa are expected to attend this very important event in the South African chess calendar. India’s Chess Grandmaster Sahaj Grover has already confirmed that he will be playing in the SA Open in Durban.
The championship section at the SA Open will have a grueling 11 rounds. Players eligible to take part in the championship section are those with the Fide or SA chess rating of 1500 and higher. It will be a Fide-rated tournament with norm opportunities available.
They will also be in SA Blitz Chess Championship on Tuesday 18th July which will be a 7 round Swiss event. In addition to this there will an SA Rapid Chess championship on Thursday 20th July and Friday 21 July. This will be a 7 round Swiss tournament played over 2 days with a rate of play at 15 minutes per side for entire game with additional 10 second increment.
For more details about the SA open, please refer to the brochure attached.
Also check out the Facebook page for the SA. Click here for the link: SA Chess Open 2017