The tournament had a total of 14 participants matched in a Scheveningen style team event, consisting of 7 players representing the juniors and 7 players representing the Non-juniors.
The tournament was fully sponsored by Danhypro Services Limited and was held from the 12th of March to the 14th of March at the Pedachess club, Ikorodu, Lagos.
Danhypro Services Limited consists of a team of young chess minds and the CEO of the company, International Master of chess, Daniel Anwuli.
Daniel Anwuli is a renowned and well-decorated player in the Nigerian chess community and Africa at large as he has achieved so much at a young age and DANHYPRO INVITATIONAL TEAM TOURNAMENT is his idea of giving back to the community. It is also worthy to note that he is the current National champion.
Danhypro Services Limited RC:1622220 was founded by IM Daniel Anwuli as a result of his drive to provide better chess development services in Nigeria much better than what it has been.
The tournament is one of the many ways Danhypro Services Limited has supported juniors in a bid to get them to have titles at very young ages and also helps build their tournament playing spirit.
The tournament saw some of the finest juniors participating, including Okeke Isaac who just won a tournament in Ghana, Okemakinde Toluwanimi who won the Port Harcourt edition of the DanhyPro under 20 chess Tour, Olisa Tennyson who took 2nd on tiebreaks at the DanhyPro under 20 chess tour, Eyetonghan Callistus who has won the Bayelsa Rapid chess tournament on one occasion, Ekunke Goodness who is the strong under-10 player in Nigeria, amongst other talented juniors.
We also had the Non-junior’s category consisting of Lapite Oluwadurotimi who has won several tournaments in Ghana, Onokpite Kennedy who is a force to reckon with in Nigerian chess, Mr. Onovughe Ochuko, who has a very long history of good play in Nigerian chess, amongst several other strong players.
The Chief Arbiter of the event was National Arbiter (NA) Olawale Oyeleye, Tournament director was Samson Ofubu, the Humanoid as he’s mostly called and the organizer was Danhypro Services Limited.
We also had the convener of the “Go for Grandmaster Chess initiative in Nigeria”, Mr. Apemiye Austin, who aided in broadcasting the games live on several chess websites.
Round 1 of the event was definitely one to remember as the Non-juniors won 4-3 after a very well-fought matchup.
A total of four draws was recorded as the Non-juniors had two wins and Callistus helped the juniors secure a win.
Round 2 saw the juniors suffer a 6-1 defeat with Okeke Isaac and Okemakinde Toluwanimi securing draws in their games.
Round 3 ended 4.5 – 2.5 in favor of the Non-juniors. Worthy to note was also the amazing finish from 10-year-old Ekunke Goodness to help the juniors secure one point in his game versus Akagha Tochukwu. CM Okeke Isaac also won and Akinbodewa Adebayo got a draw to help secure 2.5 points.
Round 4 was a rerun of round 2 as the juniors lost 6-1 as only CM Okeke Isaac and Olisa Tennyson secured draws in their games.
Round 5 saw the juniors lose 4.5-2.5 as Okemakinde Toluwanimi and Akinbodewa Adebayo secured victories in their games and CM Okeke Isaac came through the round with a draw.
Round 6, being the penultimate round ended 4.5 – 2.5 in favor of Non-juniors with Okemakinde Toluwanimi and Matan Adebayo securing wins whilst Eyetonghan Callistus secured a draw.
Round 7, The final round felt like a wake-up call to the juniors as they finally won the Non-juniors 4-3 with Callistus, Isaac, Tennyson, and Akinbodewa securing victories on their boards.
The Non-juniors amassed 32.5 points whilst the juniors amassed 16.5 points.
The winner of the event is Candidate Master Onokpite Kennedy, a Non-junior and in his words, “I definitely didn’t expect this much fight from the juniors, I’m sure most Non-juniors had to sit up after the first round as these juniors didn’t come to play. The future is indeed bright. Thanks to DanhyPro services limited for this opportunity”.
Special thanks to Pedachess academy in Ikorodu, Lagos, for allowing us to use their facility.
Pedachess academy is one of Nigeria’s leading chess academies and is situated at 16, TOS Benson, Ebute, Ikorodu, Lagos.
We would love to acknowledge and say a very big thank you to Pedachess academy for their partnership to support the tournament and also, for accommodating our idea via the provision of a world-class serene environment for the tournament.