Chess - SCF organises first online tournament |22 January 2021
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Seychelles Chess Federation has found it difficult to meet physically to conduct training or take part in tournaments.
For this reason, the Seychelles Chess Federation (SCF) has taken the initiative to conduct tournaments and other activities on lichess.org.
Lichess.org is a platform used by many chess players across the world to train, study and compete in chess tournaments. Dericka Figaro, a member of the SCF, explained that during the pandemic the SCF will use lichess.org as a means for chess players in Seychelles to stay active, and will consider having a calendar of online chess events alongside the normal chess calendar.
Furthermore, she stated that lichess.org will enable players to compete with both local and international players and help them improve their level.
A total of 114 players have registered to the online Seychelles Chess Federation and 65 took part in last Saturday’s first tournament played on a Blitz format of 5 minutes game over 7 rounds.
Players registered with the SCF and others took part in the first tournament and the following is the top five locally registered players:
1st: Fide Master Andre Stratanowitsch (Stratosey 2276) ‒ 5.5/7
2nd: Sheila Chau (sheillachua 2227) ‒ 5/7
3rd: Michel Zialor (Michel Zialor 2032) ‒ 5/7
4th: Samuel Nalletamby (Samuel Nalletamby 1723) ‒ 5/7
5th: Benjamin Sonon (Bsonon 1808) ‒ 5/7
Sheila Chua said: “I enjoyed the opportunity to take part in the first Seychelles online chess tournament. It was interesting to compete against opponents of different levels and it is encouraging to see the participation of many players. It shows that there is a lot of active interest in this wonderful sport, battle of the mind. It’s a good thing that chess players can engage and play online despite the Covid situation. I look forward to more online competitions in Seychelles.”
As for Benjamin Sonon, he had this to say: “The first online tournament was awesome. Feels good to be back. Very good initiative. It’s been over 20 years since the last time I participated in a tournament. To end up with 5 wins out of seven games is a great result for me. Watch out, I just might make a comeback.”
The SCF wishes to thank all individuals who attended the event and helped to make it a success.
Other players are being invited to take part in the second online chess event tomorrow, Saturday January 23. The tournament will be played on a Rapid 10-minute over seven rounds. Open to Seychelles chess players only the tournament will start at 2pm.
For registration, players need to have an account on lichess.org, then request to join the online Seychelles Chess Federation Team on lichess.org (https://lichess.org/team/seychelles-chess-federation).
Please contact the chairman of the Seychelles Chess Federation Benjamin Hoareau on WhatsApp for the tournament link. Contact 2797674.
Contributed