
The Danhypro U-20 Abuja edition event had a total of 64 participants and was a gaping contrast to the first edition (Port Harcourt) which had 25 participants.
It was a 9-round rapid tournament and was very interesting through to round 9 as the participation of new players made a whole lot of difference.

The hosts consisted of The Tournament director, Samuel Ojikutu, Assistant Tournament director, Michael Benson and Chief Arbiter, Titoluwanimi Rapheal. All protocols were duly observed in the playing hall and all players followed all chess rules, as such, dispute resolution was reduced to the barest minimum.

The event was covered by Africa Chess Media and Bruvschess media.

The DanhyPro Chess U-20 Tournament started at exactly 9:00 AM. The arbiters ensured fairness and kept coaches, guardians and parents from distracting the players as necessary.
As expected, the Swiss manager paired the rated players with the unrated players in the first and second rounds which gave some unrated players the chance to showcase their preparations and the rated players didn’t exactly find it easy defending themselves.
The round six games were filled with interesting games almost on all the boards, Eyetonghan Denyefa Callistus-2014 picked a win on board 18 against Abubakar Hassan after missing the fifth game yesterday due to late arrival for the round.

Onoja Iyefu Joy, Suleiman Azumi Ayisha, both won the sixth games to get ahead of the race for best female prices while Jessica Tirnom Bello and Iguehi Elora Oise were slowed down.

Osadebe Michael Ikechukwu, Olisa Tennyson, Okemakinde Toluwanimi and Okeke Daniel, all on 4 points before the round of six, but won their games to catch up with CM Okeke Isaac who drew his match with Idara Emmanuel on board one.

At the seventh round, only two players were without a loss in the tournament namely; Okeke Issac-1728 and Okemakinde Toluwanimi-1975, but they sure aren’t winning all either, not with such level of competition going on. Virtually all the top 6 players all held 5 points respectively and the top 20 rank all held 4 points as at the seventh round of the nine rounds event.

After Idara Emmanuel successfully took out Olisa Tennyson off the medal race in the 8th round, he was unable to consolidate in his last game against Okemakinde Toluwanimi in the last round where he ran out of time on his clock in the endgame play.
The round 9 pairing had Onoja Iyefu Joy paired on board two as white against CM Okeke Isaac, which is very coincidental with the same pairing of the round 8 of the Port Harcourt Edition.

As at round 9, Onoja Iyefu Joy is with 6 points at this point now competes for more than just the ladies prize but a place on the top 10 rank maybe top five if she wins the last game. But CM Okeke Isaac was the opponent and also needs a win to secure himself the silver medal or maybe a chance at the gold.

Iyefu lost the game by time flag but then, the 6 points was sufficient for her to win the BEST FEMALE Gold Medal by tie-break as Suleiman Azumi Ayisha-1726 also finished 6points after she was able to defeat Iguehi Elora Oise.

Even though Okemakinde and Isaac finished with no loss, and also played a draw on their personal encounter, Toluwani had the lower performance rating due to the first-round game which he won by walkover. Hence, CM Isaac Okeke takes the champion’s trophy ranking #1 by tie-break.

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
1 | 7 | Okeke Issac | NGR | 1728 | 7,5 | 0,5 | 6 | 53,0 | |
2 | 2 | Okemakinde Toluwanimi | NGR | 1975 | 7,5 | 0,5 | 6 | 48,5 | |
3 | 28 | Idara Emmanuel | NGR | 0 | 7,0 | 1,0 | 6 | 54,5 | |
4 | 4 | Olisa Tennyson | NGR | 1853 | 7,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 49,5 | |
5 | 11 | Akinbodewa Adebayo | NGR | 1479 | 6,5 | 1,0 | 6 | 49,0 | |
6 | 34 | Keyi Lucky Musa | NGR | 0 | 6,5 | 0,0 | 6 | 51,0 | |
7 | 30 | Iheanacho Emmanuel | NGR | 0 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 47,5 | |
8 | 8 | Suleiman Azumi Ayisha | NGR | 1726 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 45,0 | |
9 | 1 | Eyetonghan Denyefa Callistus | NGR | 2014 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 44,5 | |
10 | 5 | Onoja Iyefu Joy | NGR | 1768 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 44,0 | |
11 | 6 | Salako Clinton | NGR | 1767 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 43,0 | |
12 | 54 | Uchegbu Damianson | NGR | 0 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 6 | 41,0 | |
13 | 47 | Osadebe Michael Ikechukwu | NGR | 0 | 6,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 53,5 | |
14 | 13 | Abdullahi Adamu | NGR | 0 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 50,0 | |
15 | 12 | ACM | Iwuozor John | NGR | 0 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 48,0 |
16 | 3 | Matan Adebayo Oludayo | NGR | 1915 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 48,0 | |
17 | 24 | Ekunke Odey Goodness | NGR | 0 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 40,5 | |
18 | 60 | Iwuagwu Williams Onyedikachi | NGR | 0 | 5,5 | 0,0 | 5 | 37,5 | |
19 | 53 | Ferdinard Tersay Joseph | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 49,0 | |
20 | 39 | Okeke Daniel | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 48,5 | |
21 | 35 | Khalid Ahmed | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 48,0 | |
22 | 29 | Iguehi Elora Oise | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 45,5 | |
23 | 16 | Adedapo Jeremiah | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 44,5 | |
24 | 32 | Jessica Tirnom Bello | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 44,0 | |
25 | 10 | Afolabi Emmanuel | NGR | 1585 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 44,0 | |
26 | 31 | Isah Abubakar | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 42,0 | |
27 | 57 | Yakubu Daniel Jason | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 40,5 | |
28 | 61 | Iwuagwu Ayomide Ifesinachi | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 36,0 | |
29 | 37 | Ocheja Ojochoguwu Esther | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 5 | 35,5 | |
30 | 15 | Abubakar Hassan | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 49,0 | |
31 | 48 | Raphael Orjiekwe | NGR | 0 | 5,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 40,0 | |
32 | 23 | Ekunke Iyambe Perez | NGR | 0 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 4 | 42,0 | |
33 | 20 | Chinonso Chuks Samuel | NGR | 0 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 4 | 38,0 | |
34 | 26 | Gloria Ishaya Karu | NGR | 0 | 4,5 | 0,0 | 4 | 33,0 | |
35 | 33 | Jonathan Tiko | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 45,5 | |
36 | 52 | Suurshater Gbertyoh | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 43,5 | |
37 | 58 | Yakubu Emmanuel | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 40,5 | |
38 | 18 | Ahmad Sadiq Muazu | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 40,0 | |
39 | 56 | Utange Kevin Aondokator | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 40,0 | |
40 | 62 | Abdulmajeed Chadi | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 38,5 | |
41 | 51 | Shekwolo Daniel | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 37,0 | |
42 | 19 | Bernice Onoriode | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 35,5 | |
43 | 41 | Okeke Prince Nzubechukwu | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 35,0 | |
44 | 46 | Orji Nmesomachukwu | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 34,5 | |
45 | 27 | Grace Okunola Ajibola | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 33,5 | |
46 | 25 | Emmanuel Samuel | NGR | 0 | 4,0 | 0,0 | 4 | 31,0 | |
47 | 49 | Samad Mohammed | NGR | 0 | 3,5 | 0,0 | 3 | 40,5 | |
48 | 14 | Abdulrazaq Muhammed | NGR | 0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3 | 40,0 | |
49 | 40 | Okeke Praise Akachukwu | NGR | 0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3 | 38,5 | |
50 | 36 | Mofiba Ogunwumiju | NGR | 0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3 | 36,0 | |
51 | 21 | Edith Ishaya | NGR | 0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3 | 34,5 | |
52 | 22 | Egwudah Anslem | NGR | 0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3 | 33,0 | |
53 | 50 | Samuel Isaac | NGR | 0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3 | 32,5 | |
54 | 43 | Olofu Jesse | NGR | 0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3 | 31,0 | |
55 | 45 | Orji Kosisochukwu | NGR | 0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3 | 28,0 | |
56 | 59 | Ziptaram Anyankah | NGR | 0 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 2 | 35,5 | |
57 | 63 | Precious Ainsa | NGR | 0 | 2,5 | 0,0 | 2 | 38,0 | |
58 | 38 | Oha Michael | NGR | 0 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 2 | 33,0 | |
59 | 55 | Oha Emmanuel | NGR | 0 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 1 | 26,5 | |
60 | 42 | Olofu Ephraim | NGR | 0 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 1 | 26,0 | |
61 | 64 | Stephanie Nwachukwu | NGR | 0 | 1,5 | 1,0 | 1 | 28,0 | |
62 | 17 | Jess Egwundah | NGR | 0 | 1,5 | 0,0 | 1 | 28,5 | |
63 | 9 | Maxwell Titus | NGR | 1681 | 0,0 | 0,0 | 0 | 27,0 | |
44 | Omesu Miracle Chinyere | NGR | 0 | 0,0 | 0,0 | 0 | 27,0 |
Annotation:
Tie Break1: Direct Encounter (The results of the players in the same point group)
Tie Break2: The greater number of victories (variable)
Tie Break3: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
The under-14 category saw 10-year-old Ekunke Goodness come out tops again, remaining a talent to be reckoned with. He went home not only as a winner of the category but also a special award for the youngest contestant with the best performance.

We had a total of 23 prizes, all adding up to a massive 425,000 naira! A great number went home with smiles on their faces as a result of surpassing standards set in the previous Port Harcourt edition of the DanhyPro U-20 chess Tour series and doing better in the Abuja edition with certain promise to do more in the Asaba and Lagos edition due in the months of July and October respectively. The whole tour after the four states has a total cash prize of 2 million naira.

The closing ceremony started at 3pm in the noon of Sunday 25th April, 2021 and the award ceremony was an exciting one for everyone because the chief arbiter made sure to fill the hall with smiles and laughter. There was call to the high table after which an opening prayer was given by the tournament director, Ojikutu Samuel.

A brief opening speech was given by the assistant tournament director, Mr. Michael Benson who gave a insight about Danhypro services limited and also shared the vision behind the Danhypro tour.
The Danhypro tour is aimed at discovering talents in Nigeria, which leaders in the various zones can see and put in their resources to see them evolve into top players in the not too distant future. In his words, “Danhypro Services limited is a firm that is very passionate about chess development in Nigeria and will continue to promote chess development via sponsorship and support to aid junior chess development and growth in Nigeria, thereby making valid contributions to the future of Nigeria chess”.

Also, there was an exhibition match held between Veteran chess player Mr. Josh Ali and Okemakinde Toluwanimi, which ended in a drawi

After the medals and prizes were awarded, THE GO FOR WEST AFRICAN GRAND-MASTER INITIATIVE sponsored a special awards segment to encourage some participants, the first was the N10,000 cash prize award for Youngest player with the best performance which was merited by Ekunke Goodness and the award to a PLAYER IN A CHESS TOURNAMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME with over 50% performance, the N10,000 cash prize was awarded to Khalid Ahmed who finished with 5 points of 9 games in his first tournament.


After the closing ceremony, the tournament director (Ojikutu Samuel) Scheduled an open blitz competition as an after-tournament event to give everyone a feel of tournament thrill.

The after-tournament event lasted 5 rounds and surprisingly, CM Okeke Isaac and Okemakinde Toluwanimi won joint first in the event.

Special thanks to the CEO of DanhyPro Services Limited, International Master Daniel Anwuli, sponsors, Africa Chess Media, BruvsChess media, and the entire Danhypro team – Tournament director – Samuel Ojikutu, Assistant Tournament Director – Michael Benson, Chief Arbiter – Titoluwanimi Rapheal for making this happen!
Also, special thanks to Royalton hotels for providing a most wonderful and serene environment coupled with impeccable service from staff truly worth five stars!

Catch you all next in the Asaba edition!