The biggest tournament of the year in South Africa has just started and we are going to look at the biggest winners and losers in round 1!
Prestige Section
All the top seeds managed to convert their games except for 1 game which we will look at:
Metcalfe, Allister vs FM Simpson, Michael
Now trust me when I tell you Allister came prepared for this game! The English opening was utilized and the game was equal until move 32.
https://lichess.org/broadcast/2024-moja-chess-extravaganza–prestige/round-1/hldK3QNS/OJsoPkot
6Rf7 looks like a normal move however it basically kills the whole game as white has the move 33.axb4 which forces black to either play 33…Qxb4 which alleviates the pin on the f2 rook allowing for the killer move 34.fxg6.
Any other logical move will allow 34.Bc4! And we will not look at the Qxf2 variation as that’s what happened in the game.
8Rf7 was the best move as it would have opened a square for the queen to play to the f8 square and keep the position intact.
This was a rather tricky position showing that the tournament will be tough this year. Let’s hope the FM bounces back fast from the loss.
Ladies Section
The ladies section is always intriguing and we will look at 1 clutch game that occurred in the round!
Naidoo Kajol vs Otimile Maya
https://lichess.org/broadcast/moja-chess-extravaganza-2024-ladies/round-1/gtHqtmxg/kpEUzPQS
“When the dust is almost clear the person who captures with a check has the upper hand”. This is what happened in this game as Maya miscalculated and missed cxd7+ which left Kajol up a minor piece.
This was an impressive game for Kajol, as she finished the game with more than an hour of her time left. On the other boards, there wasn’t much action however round 2 will be interesting and I’m personally looking forward to Naleli McPherson(Lesotho Ladies Number 1) vs WIM Jesse February(SA Ladies Number 1).
Section A: lichess.org/broadcast/2024-moja-chess-extravaganza–prestige/z9bPBs3z
Ladies Section: lichess.org/broadcast/moja-chess-extravaganza-2024-ladies/R4T3O8Ze
Section B: lichess.org/broadcast/moja-chess-extravaganza-2024-b-section/RlE9hMWd