IM Dante Beukes & WCM Lishen Mentile Crowned Namibia Champions
IM Dante Beukes cemented his position as one of his country’s top players when he won the 2021 Namibian Closed Chess Championship with a perfect score of 9/9.
Khoa Goodwill who was the 2013 Champion was a distant second with 6 points. CM Charles Eichab, the seven-time Namibia Chess Champion, was 3rd with 5.5 points.
IM Dante Beukes went home with NAD 3,000 (approximately USD 210) out of a total prize fund of NAD 6,000 (USD 630). IM Dante Beukes won his first Namibian Championship at the age of 14 in 2017, and his second title was in 2019. He has represented his country at the 2016 Baku and the 2018 Batumi Chess Olympiads.
The charming Windhoek Country Club Resort was one of the sponsors and the venue for the hotly contested event. Three Dimension Printing CC and MNE Accounting Services were the other sponsors of the event.
Jossy Uapingene v IM Dante Beukes
IM Dante Beukes v Bernhard Schwarz
2021 Namibian Closed Chess Championship – Ladies
WCM Lishen Mentile, on the other hand, was the winner of the Ladies section of the 2021 Namibian Closed Chess Championship. She won the event with a score of 6 points out of 7 rounds. She took home NAD 2,000 (USD 140).
WCM Lishen Mentile is one of Namibia’s top lady players. She has represented her country in 3 Olympiads (2012, 2016 and 2018). In addition, she has won the Namibian Chess Championship in 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
WFM Rauha Shipindo was second with 5.5 points.
Van Wyk Keisha was third with 4.5 points.
Selection of players for the 2021 Namibian Closed Chess Championship
The Namibia Chess Federation introduced a new selection process from 2017.
- Top three players of the previous year
- Highest FIDE rated player in the country
- B-Section winner of the previous year
- Top 5 players from the Qualifying tournament of the current year:
The following participants were were entitled to participate in the 2021 Namibia Closed Chess Championships.
OPEN Section
IM Dante Beukes and CM Charles Eichab were the top 2 players from the 2019 edition. Heskiel Ndahangwapo the player who was 3rd could not attend.
NM Goodwill Khoa was the winner in the B-section in 2019.
CM Mclean Handjaba ,Jossy Uapingene, Manfredo Gaoseb, Ivan Boois, Bernhard Schwarz, Brian Jaftha, and Simon Mwanyangapo were the seven from the 2021 qualifying tournaments.
WOMEN
WCM Nicola Tjaronda, WCM Lishen Mentile & WFM Rauha Mulisa were the top three players in the 2019 edition.
WCM Jamie-Nicole Beukes was the winner of the B Section in 2019.
Keisha Van Wyk, Lure Horn, Maria Niilenge & Lilian Jansen were top four players from the 2021 qualifier tournaments.
Past Namibia National Champions
2001 – Charles Eichab.
2002 FM Leonhard Muller.
2003 Werner Tjipueja.
2004 CM Otto Nakapunda.
2005 – Helmuth Leicher.
2006 – Reuben Beukes.
2007 – Charles Eichab.
2008 – Frans Dennis.
2009 – Charles Eichab.
2010 – Leonhard Mueller.
2011 – Max Nitzborn.
2012 – Charles Eichab.
2013 – Goodwill Khoa.
2014 – Leo Muller.
2015 – Charles Eichab.
2016 – Charles Eichab.
2017 – Dante Beukes.
2018 – Charles Eichab.
2019 – Dante Beukes.
2020 – Event not held due to the Covid pandemic.
Chess facts about Namibia
IM Dante Beukes is Namibia’s highest rated player at 2284.
Namibia has just over 460 players registered with FIDE.
The Namibian Chess Federation was registered in 1994.
Namibia has taken part in 12 Chess Olympiads 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and the 2018 edition.
CM Charles Eichab is the President of the Namibian Chess Federation. He is a seven time Namibian National Champion (2001, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018). CM Charles Eichab has represented Namibia in ten Chess Olympiads.Interesting facts about Namibia
Geographical facts
Namibia has some of the highest dunes in the world. Dune 7 is the highest dune in the area standing at 1,256 feet.
Namibia is also home to the second-largest canyon in the world. The Fish River Canyon is located close to the border with South Africa.
The Etosha National Park is one of the most popular tourist attractions on the African continent.
Namibia has the largest deposits of marine diamonds globally. The seabed contains diamonds that can be found just like lost change.
In 2017, DeBeers, the largest diamond producer, launched the world’s biggest diamond exploration ship called SS Nujoma . This vessel will harvest more than 1.2 million carats of diamonds every year!
The Dragons Breath Cave in Namibia is the largest underground lake in the world.
The lake is around 100m beneath the ground and difficult to access. Only White Shrimps and worms live in the crystal-clear water of the lake.
The Skeleton Coast along the Namibian coast is the world’s biggest grave-site for sailors and ships. Several sailors have died at this coast, given the dense fog and the violent storms in the area.
Namibia has one of the largest concentrations of rock art in Africa
Historical facts
Namibia gets its name from the Namib Desert, which is the oldest desert in the world.
Namibia became a German colony in 1884 under Otto von Bismarck. It was then known as German South West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika).
At the 1919 Treaty of Versalilles, it was renamed South West Africa. At the same time it became a territory of South Africa as a League of Nations mandate.
The name was changed from South West Africa to Namibia on 12th June 1968.
The country officially became independent on 21 March 1990. Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first President of Namibia.
Links
IM Bwalya wins Namibia Open 2018.
CM Charles Eichab elected President of the Namibian Chess Federation.
2021 Namibian Closed Chess Championship – Ladies Section – standing and results.
2021 Namibian Closed Chess Championship – Open Section – standings and results.
