Tag: CHESS

Serbia’s Dejan Antic has been rated as the number one seed in the ongoing Lagos International Chess Classics, as Main Organising Committee (MOC) listed 145 players in the senior category.

With the foreign players dominating the seeding list, five Nigerian players led by Bunmi Olape were also listed among the top 10 seeded players in the championship.

As the only grand master in the tournament as well as the highest world rated player in the competition, Serbia’s Antic is seeded number one and he is followed by Egypt’s duo of Mohammed Ezat and Abdelrahman Hesham who are both seeded number two and three respectively.

The only international master in Uganda, Elijah Emojong is seeded number four while Egypt’s Walaa Sarwat is fifth on the seeding list.

The highest ranked Nigerian player in the world, Olape is number six, while giant-killer, Chukwunonso Oragwu is seventh in the rating. Other Nigerian players seeded among the top 10 are Adeyinka Adesina, Oladapo Adu and Bomo Kigigha.

According to the chief arbiter of the tournament, Eugene Akhiwu, the turnout of players was impressive but said that the tournament being the flagship of Nigeria’s chess competition has quality players.

“I want to say that this tournament might be the best in term of turn out of players but when you talk of quality of players, I can conclude that this is the flagship and we are indeed happy that this is happening for our players to get good rating,” he said.

The international arbiter added: “I want to say that the presence of the Serbian grand master will indeed add glamour to the championship while it will afford our players to cause upset to be able to get good rating just like what Oragwu did at the last World Chess Olympiad in Turkey, where he beat a lot of grand masters to improve his world rating. We should not rule out that to happen in this competition and this will help the players to get astronomical rise in their world rating.”

Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos is hosting the N3.5million prize money championship.

Players will compete in two events, open and U-14 divisions, while the winner in the open event will get $5,000 as star prize.

Serbia’s Dejan Antic has been rated as the number one seed in the ongoing Lagos International Chess Classics, as Main Organising Committee (MOC) listed 145 players in the senior category.

With the foreign players dominating the seeding list, five Nigerian players led by Bunmi Olape were also listed among the top 10 seeded players in the championship.

As the only grand master in the tournament as well as the highest world rated player in the competition, Serbia’s Antic is seeded number one and he is followed by Egypt’s duo of Mohammed Ezat and Abdelrahman Hesham who are both seeded number two and three respectively.

The only international master in Uganda, Elijah Emojong is seeded number four while Egypt’s Walaa Sarwat is fifth on the seeding list.

The highest ranked Nigerian player in the world, Olape is number six, while giant-killer, Chukwunonso Oragwu is seventh in the rating. Other Nigerian players seeded among the top 10 are Adeyinka Adesina, Oladapo Adu and Bomo Kigigha.

According to the chief arbiter of the tournament, Eugene Akhiwu, the turnout of players was impressive but said that the tournament being the flagship of Nigeria’s chess competition has quality players.

“I want to say that this tournament might be the best in term of turn out of players but when you talk of quality of players, I can conclude that this is the flagship and we are indeed happy that this is happening for our players to get good rating,” he said.

The international arbiter added: “I want to say that the presence of the Serbian grand master will indeed add glamour to the championship while it will afford our players to cause upset to be able to get good rating just like what Oragwu did at the last World Chess Olympiad in Turkey, where he beat a lot of grand masters to improve his world rating. We should not rule out that to happen in this competition and this will help the players to get astronomical rise in their world rating.”

Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos is hosting the N3.5million prize money championship.

Players will compete in two events, open and U-14 divisions, while the winner in the open event will get $5,000 as star prize.

THE Molade Okoya-Thomas of the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos will on Tuesday come alive as the N3.5million prize money Lagos International Chess Classics kicks off.

With over 300 players within and outside the country expected to participate in the four-day tournament, as the first round of matches commence. International Master from Egypt and Uganda will also be part of the competition, while the only grand master in the competition is Serbia’s Dejan Antic.

With players competing in two events – open and U-14 divisions, while the winner in the open event getting $5,000 as star prize.

According to the tournament director, Babalola Adebayo, all is set for the competition, as most of the top players in Nigeria are eager to rub shoulders with their foreign counterparts.

“As you can see, all now is ready for the commencement of the championship. The foreign players are expected to arrive on Monday (yesterday) while the registration of the Nigerian players has also been concluded. For us, we are set to stage a befitting tournament and we hope this championship will help our players to improve their ranking in the world,” Adebayo said.

Nigeria’s number one active player, Bunmi Olape will lead the onslaught against the foreigners while Port Harcourt-based Chukwunonso Oragwu as well as Afolabi Akintola will support him. The Lagos International Chess Classics is one of the series in the Lagos-organised Sports Classics, which has been sanctioned by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), as a ranking event.

For Oragwu, the staging of the tournament would surely had value to the Nigerian players. Oragwu, who is Nigeria’s second top rated player in the world told journalists on Monday that he was happy that such tournament is holding in Nigeria with some of the world’s best coming to Lagos.

“I am personally excited that foreigners are coming to Lagos for the championship and for us, it will help us to improve our ranking and also learn form these top players. I think the presence of grand master is a plus to this championship. I believe that if the prospectus of the championship has gone out early, we will surely have more top players coming. Also, the prize money is really encouraging for the players. We look forward to an exciting and lucrative tournament for Nigerian players,” Oragwu said.

He however, pleaded with the Lagos State government to ensure the continuity of the championship.