Zone 4.4 Youth U16 Chess Championships
Ghana hosted the maiden edition of the Zone 4.4 Youth U16 Chess Championships from 16th – 23rd December 2018. The venue was the Cape Coast Sports Stadium in downtown Accra.
The tournament featured five teams from Ghana and two from Nigeria. The event was a round-robin over five days.
The Nigerians seemed better prepared for the contest as they won the initial rounds convincingly against the Ghanaian sides.
The Ghanaian players, who were relatively new to classical FIDE rated competition took time to warm up into the games. This was evident when Ghana team D held the experienced Nigerian B side to a 2-2 draw. This result made Nigeria team A the automatic winners. IM Adu Oladapo, a well known Nigerian player, was the Nigerian team coach.
The overall winning team (Nigeria A) took home a trophy, computer tablets for each player. The team will also receive a travel grant to play in the 2019 World Youth Chess Championships. The squad comprised of Osadebe Michael, Ayisha Azumi, Suleiman, Garba-Jimba, Haliyah Titilope, Adeyemi Ayomiposi & Okemakinde Toluwanimi.
Ghana’s best performing team was Ghana Team B made up of Naren Varyani, Joseph Sovereign, Audrey Aryiku, Malav Daftary & Eaga Rushikesh. They finished in second place.
Individual prizes also went to the following players; Isaac Norvi, Aarush Thankkar, Rohan Sharma, Larry Vandyke and Alexis Rusquet.
