Africa
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Bellahcene, Wafa are 2025 African Champions!
Bilel Bellahcene won the 2025 African Individual Chess Championship, edging out seven-time champion Bassem Amin. Egypt had won the last nine titles and, going back to 1998, had won 17/20 championships. The Algerian grandmaster took to social media with a heartfelt message. After years of hard work, sacrifice and passion,…
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African Chess celebrates “Africa Day”
“Africa Day” is commemorated on May 25th of every year as a rallying cry for Pan-African unity, justice, and regional collaboration. The day celebrates the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963. The OAU became the African Union (AU) in 2002. This year marks the 62nd anniversary…
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2025 African Individual Chess Championship (Cairo, Egypt)
The 2025 African Individual Chess Championship will be held from May 13th to 20th, 2025, in Cairo, Egypt. It is organized by the African Chess Confederation (ACC) and hosted by the Egyptian Chess Federation at the Police Union Club.The tournament will feature both an open section and a women’s section. The 9-round Swiss…
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7,242 players at Kenya Schools Chess!
Something amazing happened in Kenyan chess a month ago. Over 7,000 chess players from across Kenya gathered at Mang’u High School to compete in the Kenyan Schools Chess Championship. A fantastic sea of youth filled the halls as thousands of students came in columns of buses to compete in the…
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Tanitoluwa Adewumi qualifies for IM title!
Tanitoluwa Adewumi has just completed the rating requirements for the title of International Master. This is a major step toward his next goal of becoming a Grandmaster. Tani’s story is well-known and has been covered extensively on this site. However, a New York Times story would change his life forever.…
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Chitumbo Mwali wins 5th Zambian Chess Crown!
IM Chitumbo Mwali, 2025 Zambian ChampionBupe Gerald Chibomba The Copper Eagle Soars International Master Chitumbo Mwali won his fifth national championship last weekend in the nation’s capital of Lusaka. It was his fourth consecutive title, putting him in elite company. However, the journey would not be easy, as he was…
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Eswatini chess prepares children for future
The Eswatini Chess Federation was chartered in 2006 and joined FIDE in 2011. The federation has had regular activity, mostly on the school level, but they have also hosted successful open tournaments. The country of Eswatini has a long history, but the nation itself is young, having changed its name from…
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17-year-old Nyuima Tersee is new Nigerian Champion!
Nyuima Ferdinand Tersee won the 2024 Nigerian National Championship over several titled and veteran players. The 17-year-old from Benue State bested a field of veterans and titled players as the youngest in the nation’s history to win the coveted title. In the aftermath of Gukesh Dommaraju’s world title, the age…
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African Diaspora @ Budapest Olympiad!
The African Diaspora was again in full force to compete at the Chess Olympiad for honors. Twenty years ago, little attention was paid to smaller nations, and almost no photographs were taken of players and delegates. Photographers and mainstream chess websites focused primarily on the top boards as if there…
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Somalia’s Chess Olympiad Visa Nightmare
Somalians look splendid at the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan.Photo by David Llada Somalia Chess Federation Somalia’s plans to attend the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, started with excitement but ended in a nightmare. This is a recurrent theme every two years when smaller federations struggle to attend…
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