FM Calvin Klaasen & WFM Luzia Pires win Zone 4.5 Championship
FM Calvin Klaasen of South Africa & WFM Luzia Pires of Angola won the Open and Ladies section of the 2022 Zone 4.5 Individual Chess Championship.
The event held at the Scenery Guest House in Maseru, Lesotho ran from 12th to 6th March 2022.
The event was a resounding success, with players from 9 federations of the ten taking part. The only country missing from the event was Malawi.
Open Section.
FM Sergio Miguel of Angola was the top-rated player at 2335. FM Daniel Barrish of South Africa was the second top-rated player at 2266.
The Open section had 20 players from 9 federations.
FM Calvin Klaasen was undefeated in the event with five wins, and four draws to end with seven points.
On the other hand, FM Daniel Barrish had seven wins and two losses to also end with seven points.
FM Calvin Klassen was declared the winner due to a better tie-break and having won his game against FM Daniel Barrish.
CM Paiva Donaldo v FM Calvin Klaasen
Ladies Section
WFM Luzia Pires of Angola won the Ladies section with 8 points from seven wins and two draws.
WIM Jesse February of South Africa was second with 7.5 points.
WIM Esperanca Caxita of Angola was third with 6.5 points.
The Ladies section had 18 players from seven federations.
The free day
The unsung heroes
Chess facts about Lesotho
The Lesotho Chess Federation was established in 2003 and joined FIDE in 2012.
Tseliso Motloheloa is the current President of the Lesotho Chess Federation.
CM Tekelo Klaas is the highest-rated player in Lesotho, with a rating of 1812.
The federation has just over 340 players registered with FIDE.
Facts about Lesotho
Lesotho is an entirely landlocked country surrounded by South Africa.
The capital city is Maseru, with just under a quarter of a million inhabitants. The total population is just over 2 million.
The main ethnic group is the Basotho (99.7%), and the official languages are Sesotho and English.
The territory in 1884 became a Crown colony of Britain by the name Basutoland.
Basutoland gained its independence and became the Kingdom of Lesotho in 1966.
It is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 meters in elevation. About 80% of the country lies above 1,800 meters. Hence the nickname ‘Kingdom of the Sky‘.
The national dish of Lesotho is ‘Motoho‘, a fermented sorghum porridge eaten throughout the country.
Traditional musical instruments include the lekolulo, a kind of flute used by herding boys, the setolo-tolo, played by men using their mouth, and the woman’s stringed thomo.
Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy with King Letsie III as the ruler.
Lesotho has a winter sports enclave in the Maluti Mountains region where you can ski!
The blue stripe represents the sky and rain. The white stripe symbolises peace. The green stripe represents the land and prosperity. The most prominent figure on the flag is a Basotho hat. The hat is black to represent Lesotho as a black nation.