African Junior Chess Championship

For the age-unrestricted chess tournament, see African Chess Championship.

The African Junior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament open to players in Africa who are under 20 years of age. The tournament was first held in 1980, and since its second edition in 1989, has been held annually with the exception of 2010. Beginning in 2002, a separate championship for girls has been held concurrently with the open championship. ^[1]

Competition

The championships are organized by national federations affiliated with the African Chess Confederation. They are open to chess players who are under 20 years of age as of 1 January of the year in which the championship is held. ^[2] The championships are organized as a round-robin or a Swiss-system tournament depending on the number of participants. Since 2001, the open championship has been a nine-round Swiss. ^[3]

The winners of the open and girls' championships earn the right to participate in the next year's World Junior Chess Championships. ^[4] In the open championship, the top three players after tiebreaks all earn the International Master title, while the first-placed player additionally earns a norm towards the Grandmaster title. In the girls' championship, the top three players after tiebreaks all earn the Woman International Master title, while the first-placed player additionally earns a norm towards the Woman Grandmaster title. ^[5]

Results

Open championship

Results are taken from Olimpbase ^[3] unless otherwise indicated.

Year	Venue	Winner
1980	Lagos, Nigeria	Shakirudeen Agusto  (NGR) [6]
1989	Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria [7]	Thomas Oparaugo  (NGR) [8]
1990	Gaborone, Botswana	Kudzanai Mamombe  (ZIM) [9]
1991	Gaborone, Botswana	Kudzanai Mamombe  (ZIM) [9]
1992	Nairobi, Kenya	Cephas Sichilima  (ZAM) [10]
1993	Nairobi, Kenya	Adérito Pedro  (ANG) [11]
1994	Port Launay, Seychelles	Eugénio Campos  (ANG) [12]
1995	Luanda, Angola	Eugénio Campos  (ANG) [13]
1996	Nigeria	Vladimiro Pina  (ANG) [12]
1997	Maputo, Mozambique	Vladimiro Pina  (ANG) [12]
1998	Nairobi, Kenya	Robert Gwaze  (ZIM)
1999	Kampala, Uganda	Amon Simutowe  (ZAM) [14]
2000	Pretoria, South Africa	Amon Simutowe  (ZAM) [15]
2001	Lusaka, Zambia	Ahmed Adly  (EGY)
2002	Gaborone, Botswana	Johannes Mabusela  (RSA)
2003	Tripoli, Libya	Bassem Amin  (EGY)
2004	Lusaka, Zambia	Heinrich Stander  (RSA)
2005	Gaborone, Botswana	Bassem Amin  (EGY)
2006	Gaborone, Botswana	Chitumbo Mwali  (ZAM)
2007	Kamuzu Academy, Kasungu District, Malawi	Kareim Wageih  (EGY)
2008	Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa	Kareim Wageih  (EGY)
2009	Cairo, Egypt	Kareim Wageih  (EGY)
2011	East London, South Africa	Erikson Roberto Mauricio Soares  (ANG)
2012	Hammamet, Tunisia	Abdelrahman Hesham  (EGY)
2013	Tiaret, Algeria	Moheb Ameir  (EGY)
2014	Saurimo, Angola	David Silva  (ANG)
2015	Victoria, Seychelles	David Silva  (ANG)
2016	Hammamet, Tunisia	Ali Nassr  (ALG)
2017	Lomé, Togo	Adham Fawzy  (EGY)
2018	Entebbe, Uganda	Adham Fawzy  (EGY) [16] [17]
2019	Accra, Ghana	Adham Fawzy  (EGY) [18]
2020	Not held due to the COVID pandemic
2021	Monrovia, Liberia	Brahami Lamine  (ALG) [10]
2022	Bejaia, Algeria	Jan Karsten  (RSA) [10]
2023	Nouakchott, Mauritania	Hamad Wafa  (EGY) [19]

Girls' championship

Results are taken from Olimpbase ^[20] unless otherwise indicated.

Year	Venue	Winner
2002	Gaborone, Botswana	Cecile van der Merwe  (RSA) [21]
2003	Tripoli, Libya	Jamila Yougane  (MAR)
2004	Lusaka, Zambia	Jenine Ellappen  (RSA)
2005	Gaborone, Botswana	Mona Khaled  (EGY)
2006	Gaborone, Botswana	Melissa Greeff  (RSA)
2007	Kamuzu Academy, Kasungu District, Malawi	Daleen Wiid  (RSA)
2008	Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa	Melissa Greeff  (RSA)
2009	Cairo, Egypt	Mona Khaled  (EGY)
2011	East London, South Africa	Tshepang Tlale  (RSA)
2012	Hammamet, Tunisia	Shrook Wafa  (EGY)
2013	Tiaret, Algeria	Esperança Caxita  (ANG)
2014	Saurimo, Angola	Esperança Caxita  (ANG)
2015	Victoria, Seychelles	Shahenda Wafa  (EGY)
2016	Hammamet, Tunisia	Esperança Caxita  (ANG)
2017	Lomé, Togo	Lina Nassr  (ALG)
2018	Entebbe, Uganda	Anika du Plessis  (RSA)
2019	Accra, Ghana	Luzia Pires  (ANG)
2020	Not held due to the COVID pandemic
2021	Monrovia, Liberia	Lina Nassr  (ALG) [10]
2022	Bejaia, Algeria	Lina Nassr  (ALG) [10]
2023	Nouakchott, Mauritania	Chahrazed Djeroud  (ALG) [22]

See also

• Pan American Junior Chess Championship
• Asian Junior Chess Championship
• European Junior Chess Championship
• European Youth Chess Championship

References

1. "Press Release". The Chess Drum. Botswana Chess Federation. 11 December 2002. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
2. "Information for participants to the 2016 African Junior U-20 Chess Championships" (PDF). Tunisian Chess Federation. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
3. Bartelski, Wojciech. "African Junior Chess Championship". OlimpBase. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
4. "FIDE World Junior Under-20 Championships". FIDE Handbook. FIDE . Retrieved 19 December 2020.
5. "Table for Direct Titles effective from 1 July 2017". FIDE Handbook. FIDE . Retrieved 19 December 2020.
6. Keene, Raymond (1980). "Nigeria". British Chess Magazine . Vol. 100. pp. 475–476.
7. Sanya, Samuel (11 December 2019). "Chess got me into the boardroom - Dr. Eng. Naimanye". New Vision . Archived from the original on 19 December 2020.
8. CHESS . Vol. 52. 1989. p. 5.{{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
9. "IM Kudzanai Mamombe". The Chess Drum. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
10. Masala, Kenya Chess (2022-11-20). "Jan Karsten & WIM Lina Nassr win 2022 African Junior Championship". Kenya Chess Masala. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
11. Bouah, Lyndon (10 October 2020). "Reflection on IM Aderito Pedro". Kenya Chess Masala. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
12. "Luzia Pires é campeã africana júnior". Jornal dos Desportos (in Portuguese). 4 November 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
13. "Africano de Xadrez é um ganho da Paz". Jornal dos Desportos (in Portuguese). 13 November 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
14. Musonda, Shamaoma (14 September 1999). "Boy-wonder mines gold". Times of Zambia . Retrieved 19 December 2020.
15. Sanya, Samuel (19 December 2000). "Kawuma sixth in SA chess meet". New Vision . Retrieved 19 December 2020.
16. "2019 African Junior Championship (Accra, Ghana)". 24 October 2019. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
17. Masala, Kenya Chess (2019-01-12). "IM Fawzy Adham & WIM Anika Du Plessis win African Junior Chess Championship". Kenya Chess Masala. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
18. "The Junior Chess Program and the 1996 World Microcomputer Chess Championship in Jakarta" . ICGA Journal. 19 (4): 261–262. 1996-12-01. doi:10.3233/icg-1996-19414 . Retrieved 2021-06-26.
19. "Wafa, Djeroud win African Juniors 2023!". The Chess Drum. 26 December 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
20. Bartelski, Wojciech. "African Junior Chess Championship — girls". OlimpBase. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
21. "2002 African Junior Championships (Standings)". The Chess Drum. 11 December 2002. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
22. "Wafa, Djeroud win African Juniors 2023!". The Chess Drum. 26 December 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2024.