Njobvu impresses at Olympiad

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Tuesday October 12, 2010 00:00

 

In fact had he not been too carried away against a lowly-rated opponent from Mauritania in the last round, he would have been crowned a chess master.  However, there are still hopes that after doing so well in 72 percent of his games, the world chess body, FIDE, would want to honour Njobvu.

 He was the only Botswana player not to take a point from Mauritania.  Nevertheless, his overall display was quite satisfactory. Playing on Board 3 Njobvu (2217) impressed with famous draws against top-sides, Russia and Japan.

From the 11 games he played, he won four, drew fourth and lost three losses.  Two of the defeats came from a Vietnam Grand Master (GM) Nguyen Anh Dung (2500) and Jordanian Fide Master.

Round 1: vs VietnamAgainst the Vietnamese, Njobvu had several options to continue the balanced game on move 28, but the GM punished him for one ill-advised pawn move. From this, the GM took control and forced Njobvu to resign in move 34.

Round 2: vs CyprusNjobvu had this one wrapped up inside 28 moves despite having to play with the black pieces against Polydoros Kassinopoullos (2110) of Cyprus. Round 3: vs JordanNjobvu will feel very disappointed with himself here. He was dominated by FM Sameer Mansour, (2283) and never showed his true abilities.

Round 4: vs NamibiaNamibia had the pride of showcasing their Chess Master (CM) Otto Nakapunda (2073) on Board 3 but Njobvu gave him no chance!

Round 5: vs Team Russia (4)Yes, a draw against a Russian chess master by a Botswana player. This is one game that highlighted the true potential of the team.  Of interest is that the Russian International Master (IM) Vladimir Genba (2445) had the advantage of the white pieces. Njobvu started with fire, trading the big pieces to force an end game within 15 moves!

Round 6: vs Honduras. (Yet another solid display)Njobvu and his opponent, Sergio Huguet (2142), exhibited nerves and high level of concentration throughout the game and a draw looked a fair result. Round 7: vs unrated MadagascarNjobvu's opponent was unrated Girard Ramasindraibe who was checkmated in 32 moves.

Round 8: vs ZambiaNjobvu played intelligently here defending against better-rated Kelvin Chumfwa (2224) eventually frustrating him in the end game for an exciting draw after 74 moves.

Round 9: vs Guatemala (a well-deserved point)Guatemala fielded Fide Master (FM) Lorenzana Wilson Esuardo (2206), hoping to do well against lowly-rated Njobvu. But by move 40, Njobvu was already threatening to promote a pawn into a queen when the (FM) surrendered.

Round 10: vs Japan (opponent settles for perpetual check)Interestingly, the Japanese, Kohei Yamada (2071) looked content with a drawn position as he cowardly settled for perpetual check at a time when Njobvu's position looked solid.

Round 11: vs MauritaniaNjobvu was looking to go eight games unbeaten in a row and end the tournament on a high against a lowly-rated Daouda Sabar Ousmane.  Things were still looking good when Njobvu gave away his bishop for free and the under-dog held on to the advantage for an unexpected win.