The Penultimate Round of the SA Closed Championship did not disappoint, featuring 4 decisive games and 2 draws! Calvin Klaasen and Jacob Mnguni quickly agreed to a 17-move draw, while Daniel Barrish and Charlton Mnyasta battled it out until reaching a Rook and Pawn versus Rook and Pawn endgame.
Battle of the next gens!
The decisive moment came from the position above! Jan’s diagonal attack put Michael in an uncomfortable position. The computer suggested that he play 32…g3. However, from a human perspective, that’s a hard move to make, and ultimately his decision to play fire with fire led to a loss.
Punching Bag?!
Going into this event, Lutho was considered the go-to guy for scoring points by most of the top players. The first few rounds seemed to give his detractors something to laugh about. However, the second portion of the tournament has proven his critics wrong!
In the game above, Lutho was facing off against the current strongest active chess player in South Africa, someone who has held the top position for quite some time. The game remained surprisingly equal until we reached this endgame, where once again the computer suggested that Cawdery sacrifice a pawn to have some chance of holding the game!
Now, would you sacrifice a pawn and voluntarily give your opponent a passed pawn? Chess is indeed a challenging game.
The ultimate attack
In the position above, Keith had the opportunity to shake up the leaderboard and leave the viewers in suspense with the final round looming.
However, in a surprising turn of events, instead of playing it safe and converting the game in a more secure manner, he decided to launch an attack without any clear reasoning behind it. (35.Kg2?!)
Overall, the game was interesting and showcased the power that two bishops possess in an open endgame position.
Endgame Grind!
We know when going into an endgame against Banele,things will always be tough and Watu found out the hard way in their game.
The game was equal unti Watu decided to play 41…Rxe4 which im guessing was a positional sacrifice on his behalf which would have led to a draw.
However this risk didnt work out and the game was a 66 move grind which showcased how Banele has the endgame abilities which are Magnus like!
Whats Next?
Well we have the final round tomorrow! The standings you can find them both on lichess and chess-results! Hopefully we will have a final coverage from me including some of the best games of the event(according to me not you lol!)