FRIENDS OF CHESS: JULY

The July friends of chess rapid play took place at the Lafiagi community centre on the 7th of July, 2007.

A total of 62 players registered for the event with 60 actually playing; 27 masters, 5 female and 30 opens players. Notable amongst the participants were Bomo Kigigha and Olanrewaju Ajibola fresh from the Kaduna training camp for the All African Games.

There were no veterans besides yours truly as, Oluwafemi Oluwaseitan withdrew at the last moment and Rahmon Agusto said he was tired of being used as a punching bag!

We had 15 first time participants; Master Ogugua Efoai, Ms Chinyere Igwenyere and 13 opens players. Top seeds for the event were Fajemirokun Bimbo,Femi Olape, Olanrewaju Ajibola, Yemi ewi, Bomo Kigigha and Charles Campbell.

As i typical of the Friends of Chess tournament,there were a few upsets in the first round, most notable of which was the loss of Number one seed Fajemirokun Bimbo to Oluwole Oladele. In the only grudge game of the round(i.e Both players requested to be paired) Last months joint winner, Toyin Jegede emerged victorious against Deji Jeje( who promptly withdre after the loss)

In the second round Femi Olape became "the owner" of the top board by despatching his opponent (who incidentally was his last round opponent in the previous edition)
Robert Hezekiah. On the second board it was a battle of decampees from the national camp as Olanrewaju Ajibola came out tops against Fawole Yemi.

Basically, the tourney comes alive in Round 3 as the big guns start meeting one another. Rojugbokan 'Kramnik' Olatunji  took out Femi Olape (the second time in as many games) on bord one while Ajibola defeated Emeka Nwosu. Bomo won on board 3 while Campbell was held to a draw by Ogugua. Other players on 2/2 that won were Ogunwobi, Dafe and Sorungbe.

Round 4 saw 6 players with full points and 4 others on 2.5/3. Jegede lost to Ajibola. (He was Checkmated), Bomo over came Sorungbe (the third time in as many meetings) and "Kramnik" took a pawn from Dafe early on and duly won.

Campbell defeated ChessHeights Editor (and finest boy in Nigerian Chess!) Tijani Olumide. while Edunwale King nailed Ogugua with both winners moving up to 3.5.

At the start of round 5 only 3 players had a perfect score. Jibola was paired against Bomo"Kramnik" against King(3.5) and Campbell against Femi.12 players were on 3 points. Bomo, " Kramnik" and Campbell all won.

In the final round, Bomo and "Kramnik", both with full marks, squared off.Campbell on 4.5 took on Ajibola on 4, Sorungbe vs Dashe, Bobby against Tolu and Emeka vs Debo.

To the credit of both players on the top board, they both strived to win but the game ended in a draw. This enabled Campbell, who dispatched Femi, to tie for 1st place with Bomo and "Kramnik". Tied for 4th place were; Tolu, Debo And myself.

There was an 8 way tie for the opens prizes with Emeka Nwosu, Wale Williams, Adesina Yinka, Paul Onwuemi , Nse Bobby, Adeola Ogunniyi and Fadoju Emanuel all with 4 points.
The best newcomer prize was won by Paul Onwuemi while Bisiriyu Adeola won the ladies prize