South African Chess Championship

The South African Chess Championship was first organised in 1892 by the Cape Town Chess Club. It is now organised by Chess South Africa (CHESSA), the governing body of chess in South Africa. The tournament is normally held every two years. It is restricted to chess players resident in South Africa (although exceptions have been made on occasion) and participation is by invitation only.

CHESSA was formed in 1992, after unification talks between various chess bodies that commenced the previous year. The 1995 event, the first organised by CHESSA, included titled players from Angola and Zimbabwe and was run on the Swiss system. Since that date, the tournament has been held on a round-robin basis. The winner of the tournament holds the title of South African Closed Chess Champion until the next tournament is held.

Historically, the tournament was usually held on a round-robin or double round-robin basis. In case of a tie for first place, a playoff match was usually conducted. In the early days, the title holder could also be challenged to a title match, and these matches are tabled below.

## Winners of the national championship

[edit]

Year | City | Winner  | Black Closed Winner | Women's Winner

|
|
|
|

1892 | Cape Town | Arthur Rivett
Edward Roberts[1] |
1897 | Cape Town | Edward Roberts
1899 | Durban | Abraham Michael
1903 | Johannesburg | Francis Joseph Lee
1906 | Cape Town | Bruno Edgar Siegheim
1910 | Cape Town | Harry Duhan
1912 | Johannesburg | Bruno Edgar Siegheim[2]
1920 | Cape Town | A.J.A. Cameron
Alexander Chavkin
1924 | Durban | Alexander Chavkin
1926 | Johannesburg | Max Blieden
1928 | Cape Town | Max Blieden
1935 | Johannesburg | John C. Archer jr
1937 | Cape Town | Kurt Dreyer[3]
1939 | Durban | Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1945 | Johannesburg | Wolfgang Heidenfeld
John Holford
1947 | Cape Town | Wolfgang Heidenfeld
Kurt Dreyer
1949 | Durban | Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1951 | East London | Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1953 | Johannesburg | John E. Eriksen
1955 | Cape Town | Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1957 | Durban | Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1959 | Johannesburg | Wolfgang Heidenfeld
Kenneth Kirby
1961 | Cape Town | Woolf Gerber
1963 | Pretoria | Kenneth Kirby
Kees van der Meyden
1965 | Salisbury | Piet Kroon
1967 | Johannesburg | David Friedgood
1969 | Pretoria | Piet Kroon
1971 | Johannesburg | David Friedgood
1973 | Cape Town | David Friedgood
1975 | East London | Piet Kroon
Charles de Villiers
1977 | Pretoria | David A. Walker
Charles de Villiers
1979 | Johannesburg | Frank Korostenski
1981 | Cape Town | Charles de Villiers
1983 | Pretoria | Donald Macfarlane
1985 | Johannesburg | Clyde Wolpe
Charles de Villiers
1986  |  |  | Shabier Bhawoodien (Durban)
1987 | Pretoria | Charles de Villiers[4] | Deon Pick (Worcester)
1988  |  |  | Maxwell Solomon (East London)
1989 | Secunda | Charles de Villiers | Deon Solomon (Bellville South)
1991  |  |  | Deon Solomon(CPUT Campus)
1993  | Cape Town  | George Michelakis |
1994  | CPUT Campus  | Deon Solomon |
1995 | Cape Town | David Gluckman |
1998 | Bruma Lake | Mark Rubery
Watu Kobese
2000 | Port Elizabeth | Nicholas van der Nat |  | Michelle Minnaar
2001  |  | Watu Kobese |  | Cecile van der Merwe
2002  |  |  |  | Mignon Pretorius
2003 | Kempton Park | Watu Kobese
Kenny Solomon |  | Mignon Pretorius
2004  |  |  |  | Carmen de Jager
2005 | Cape Town | Nicholas van der Nat |  | Denise Frick
2007 | Cape Town | Henry Robert Steel |  | ?
2008  |  |  |  | Carmen de Jager
2009 | Cape Town | Nicholas van der Nat |  | no event held
2011 | Cape Town | Henry Robert Steel
Watu Kobese |  | no event held
2013  | Cape Town | Donovan van den Heever[5] |  | Denise Frick
2015 | Cape Town | Daniel Cawdery[6] |  | Denise Frick
2017 | Cape Town | Johannes Mabusela, Calvin Klaasen[7] |  | Jesse February[8]
2019 | Cape Town | Daniel Barrish[9] |  | Jesse February[10]
2022 | Cape Town | Daniel Cawdery[11] |  | Chloe Badenhorst[12]

## Winners of the South African Title

[edit]

* 1897 Edward Roberts (defeated Arthur Cameron in challenge)
* 1898 Edward Roberts (defeated P.G. Van Breda in challenge)
* 1910 Max Blieden (defeated Bruno Edgar Siegheim in challenge)
* 1911 Bruno Edgar Siegheim (defeated Harry Duhan in challenge)
* 1912 Bruno Edgar Siegheim (defeated Henk Meihuizen in challenge)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ The title being shared after a drawn playoff match.
2. ^ Bruno Edgar Siegheim defeated Max Blieden in a playoff match.
3. ^ Kurt Dreyer who defeated Jack Wolpert in a playoff match.
4. ^ The tournament was actually won by the visiting Argentinian Grandmaster Miguel Quinteros, who was not eligible for the national title
5. ^ Mark Crowther (13 January 2014). "THE WEEK IN CHESS 1001". TWIC. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
6. ^ Mark Crowther (29 December 2015). "THE WEEK IN CHESS 1103". TWIC. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
7. ^ Mubayiwa, Bruce (19 December 2017). "KZN's International Master (IM) Johannes Mabusela and WP's FM Calvin Klaasen co-champions at 2017 South African Closed Chess Championships Open". africachess.net.
8. ^ "2017 South African Closed Chess Championships Women". chess-results.com.
9. ^ "2019 South African Closed Chess Championships Open". chess-results.com.
10. ^ "2019 South African Closed Chess Championships Women". chess-results.com.
11. ^ "Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2022 SACCC". chess-results.com. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
12. ^ "February, Jesse Nikki vs. Badenhorst, Chloe - South African Women's Championship 2022". chess24.com. Retrieved 14 May 2022.

* A History of Chess in Southern Africa, by Leonard Reitstein (2003), ISBN 978-0-620-29829-2. This covers the period from 1892 until 1945.
* South African Chessplayer, edited by Leonard Reitstein, published from 1953 to 1986.
* Guinness Chess: The Records, by Ken Whyld (1986), page 114. This list covers the period from 1892 until 1986.
* Chess In The RSA, edited by Charles van der Westhuizen and others, published from 1987 to 1990.
* Chess in Southern Africa, edited by Mark Levitt and others, published from 1991 to 1995.
* The Week In Chess (TWIC) by Mark Crowther. Refer to TWIC187 for 1998, TWIC286 for 2000, TWIC451 for 2003, TWIC548 for 2005, TWIC685 for 2007, TWIC791 for 2009, TWIC892 for 2011.
* On the 1924 championships: [1]

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