By S. Siapha Mulbah
The Nigerian Chess Federation and players representing the Super Eagles are hopeful of being the hosts of the upcoming 2025 West African Chess Championship, the Zone 4.2 individual Chess clash event of West Africa.
The hopes came alive for hosting the first Zone 4.2 at the biggest federation in the region after the Nigerian delegation of women and men players at the last edition in Liberia, dominated six different countries’ delegates, winning the championship.
Among 12 women players in the Women Session at Creed Lodge in Marshall City, Margibi County, Liberia, Nigerian players, Ofowino Toritsemuwa and Bridget Micheal, emerged as first and third winners respectively, after the seven rounds of cross-table ranking.
Abigail Karyah of Liberia was the only female chess player that could break the chance of having two players of the Nigerian Chess Federation taking the first two spots in the women’s session.
In the male category, it was a show of Nigerian flags in the first three spots, with Kenedy Onokpite and Eyetongham Denyefa Callistus coming second and third to countryman Abdurahman Akintoye Abdulraheem, the newest male champion of the region.
Together, Ofowino Toritsemuwa and Abdulraheem Abdulrahman Akintoye were crowned as the champions of the 2024 West Africa Chess Championship on splendid performance and supremacy.
Their greatest fight without a win came in two games, getting separate draws in the open session. The two champions played the entire Zone 4.2 this year in Liberia without tasting a defeat.
It is reported by the African Chess Confederation that 44 chess players, including 32 men in open and 12 in the women’s sections from May 9-18, represented federations from seven countries in Zone 4.2, played in Liberia.
The participants were from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo.
The women’s section witnessed the prowess of Ofowino Toritsemuwa as her strategic and calculated moves saw her emerge as the champion with a perfect score of seven over seven, two points clear of silver medalist, Abigail Karyah of Liberia, who managed five over seven.
Tournament top seed, Bridget Michael, finished third with Four and half points over seven with four victories and two defeats to Abigail Karyah and Ofowino Toritsemuwa, and one draw with Ghana’s Getrude Banini, who finished 4th with the same points as Michael.
In the open section contested by all men, the spotlight was on Fide Master Abdulrahman Abdulraheem, the open section top seed, who exhibited exceptional skills, scoring eight over nine points with seven victories and two draws to emerge as the champion in the open section.
Candidate Master Onokpite Kennedy and FM Eyetongham Denyefa Callistus, were tied on seven points, and after a tie-breaker was applied, Kennedy emerged as the silver medal winner whilst Callistus had to settle for the bronze medal, as the Nigerians dominated the podium.
