Chess: National Open Championship 2019 |30 December 2019

The competition in full swing

Big turnout for closing tournament

The Seychelles Chess Federation was among the last of the local sporting bodies to close its 2019 season with its recently held National Open Championship at the St Louis district community centre.

The tournament attracted a large number of players of all ages who battled in six categories, namely the male and female open, boys and girls under-18 years old and the boys and girls under-12 years old.

It was contested on a Swiss-system which is a non-eliminating contest format that features a set number of rounds of competition, but considerably fewer than that of a round-robin tournament.

In a Swiss tournament, each competitor (team or individual) does not necessarily play all other entrants. Competitors meet one-on-one in each round and are paired using a set of rules designed to ensure that each competitor plays opponents with a similar running score, but not the same opponent more than once.

The winner is the competitor with the highest aggregate points earned in all rounds. All competitors play in each round unless there is an odd number of players.

Tie-break systems are also used in chess Swiss system tournaments to break ties between players who have the same total number of points after the last round. This is needed when prizes are indivisible, such as titles, trophies, or qualification for another tournament.

In the open male category, Viswarajan Pillay was the grand winner after collecting 6.0 points, finishing ahead Ragul Pillay who also garnered 6.0 points.

For the open female group, Filipina Chua Sheila Mua was the winner with 4.0 points, pushing Jeanne d’Arc Abel into the runner-up position on 3.0 points.

With a final total of 6.0 points, Angelo Bistoé was the winner of the boys’ under-18 category, finishing ahead of second-placed Harish Pillay who scored 5.5 points.

In the same age group for the girls, Roysha Mougal collected 3.5 points to top the ranking, ahead of runner-up Prathiksha Hemath Kumar who scored 2.0 points.

A grand total of 7.0 points was enough to place Selvesh Senthil on top in the boys’ under-12 group, finishing ahead of Rishon Bastienne whose final score was 6.0 points.

For the girls, Ellisha Dufrene scored 3.5 points to finish ahead of Rama Pillay who concluded the tournament as the second best with the same points tally.

Commenting on the 2019 season, chairman of the Seychelles Chess Federation (SCF) Benjamin Hoareau noted that overall it has been a quite successful year, especially with a lot of young newcomers.

He added that it is always the federation’s top priority to attract more youth into chess which he said, other than a recreational activity, boosts their creativity which is a big plus in terms of their educational life.

Mr Hoareau also thanked all the loyal sponsors for their continuous support and special mention went to the National Sports Council (NSC), the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga), the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (Fide), individual sponsors and parents who contributed in one way or another towards the 2019 season.

Top three finishers in the different categories

Open male

1 Viswarajan Pillay (6.0 points)

2 Ragul Pillay (6.0 points)

3 Robin Bonne (5.0 points)

Open female

1Chua Sheila Mua (4.0 points)

2 Jeanne d’Arc Abel (3.0 points)

3 Dania Dupres (3.0 points)

Boys’ under-18

1 Angelo Bistoé (6.0 points)

2 Harish Pillay (5.5 points)

3 Neil Nicholas (5.0)

Girls’ under-18

1 Roysha Mougal (3.5 points)

2 Prathiksha Hemath Kumar (2.0 points)

3 Emmy Marie (1.5 points)

Boys’ under-12

1 Selvesh Senthil (7.0)

2 Rishon Bastienne (6.0 points)

3 Steven Dodin (5.0 points)

Girls’ under-12

1 Ellisha Dufresne (3.5 points)

2 Rama Pillay (3.5 points)

3 Raja Shalini (3.5 points)

SCF’ best for 2019

Male player of the year: Ragul Pillay

Female player of the year: Rachelle Hoareau

Young male player of the year: Mohammed Arfan

Young female player of the year: Roysha Mougal

Best coach: Rachelle Hoareau

Best official: Bernadette Contoret

Roland Duval