By S. Siapha Mulbah
The western region of Africa is on course to get new set of champions in the chess world upon the conclusion of the final round of the Zone 4.2 championship taking place in Marshall City, Liberia, according to the Liberia Chess Federation.
Over a period of one week, players of different countries’ federations have been in the oldest West African nation competing for the regional title. The West African Chess Championship has witnessed performances from different nationals, and today is the decider of who becomes the winner of the new crown to enjoy a celebration of one year as title holder.
According to the Liberia Chess Federation, it has been a long while working to have new people taking over the regional championship after the two title holders failed to show up in Liberia to defend the titles that they won about a year ago.
LCF president, Thomas Karyah, said the competition will end today, Friday May 17, 2024, with the last playing round nine and the closing ceremony. He added that the time spent outside the nation’s capital with the stakeholders of the Chess community of West Africa had been amazing, with many new experiences and ideas.
He noted that the players, along with their delegation leaders, have shown their support for the growth of chess, making it important to have more Liberians and Africans raising their attention to the game in order to build the future of the continent.
As it stands in the cross table ranking after seven rounds, the Nigerian delegation of players in the open session, consisting of over 30 male players, remains outstanding in their performance as two of their players set eyes on the top spot.
FIDE Masters Abdulrahman Akintoye Abdulraheem, who ended second in the last edition of the West African Chess Championship, is getting very high points for this year’s title. Being the top-rated participant, Tripple A has dominated the competition by making every opponent facing him feel the opposite of victory.
He is also regarded as the most favorite of the competition on his winning spree. In the top eight, it is unpredictable and the final round result will set the scope to unveil those that will walk with smiles after the champion.
In the women session, Ofowino Toritsemewa, after five rounds, achieved five wins to lead the cross-table ranking. The rest of the players following her, reported at three points each after round five in the system of chess result.
