Isaac Okeke, Ekunke Odey Goodness, Quickpen Deborah and Olanrewaju Obaloluwa have emerged gold medallist winners at the 2021 African Youth Chess Championship.
In all, Nigeria won four gold and one silver with a total of 23 points. Egypt finished top of the table winning four gold, two silver and four bronze medals with a total of 30 points.
The 2021 African Youth Chess Championship took place at the Best Western Plus Accra Beach Hotel, in Accra, Ghana, from 17th to 26th September 2021. The tournament had over 170 participants from 11 countries. Isaac Okeke – 2135 (U-18) from Nigeria was the top seed at the event.
African Chess Confederation (ACC) organized the event in collaboration with Ghana Chess Association who played host to the participants.
The 2021 African Youth Chess Championship had both male and female sections. Boys and girls competed in five (5) categories, namely: Under-8; Under-10; Under-14; Under-16; and Under-18.
The nine (9) round swiss tournament had time control— 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes to finish the whole game with an increment of 30-sec per move starting from move one (1).
Here is the list of Gold Medal winners in each of the categories:
Under 18
- Boys—Isaac Okeke (NGR): 8/9
- Girls—WFM Miladi Amen (TUN): 7½/9
Under 16
- Boys—George Michael Kevin (EGY): 7½/9
- Girls—WFM Marape Naledi (BOT): 8/9
Under 14
- Boys—Mohamed Abderrahim Taleb Mohamed (MTN): 7½/9
- Girls—Badenhorst Cleo (RSA): 8½/9
Under 12
- Boys—CM Mena Martins (EGY): 8½/9
- Girls—Romany Joy (EGY): 8/9
Under 10
- Boys—Ekunke Odey Goodness (NGR): 8/9
- Girls—Quickpen Deborah (NGR): 8/9
Under 8
- Boys—Olanrewaju Obaloluwa (NGR): 9/9
- Girls—Alaa Eldin Raghad (EGY): 7/9
Deborah Quickpen amassed 8.0 points, to defeat Tunisia’s Hasnaoui Abrar in her 9th and final game.
She was crowned champion ahead of nineteen others drawn from other African nations in the competition and also has now made history as the youngest female chess player to win a “Woman Candidate Master” title, after her feat.
The multiple medalist was among the two Nigerians selected to participate in the competition, alongside others from Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa.
Deborah was ranked seventh in Africa, and first in West Africa after the Chess Championship in Namibia in 2019.
