Gaealafshwe finished a clear point ahead of Jona Chaka, Tebogo Pitlagano and Kenneth Boikhutswane in the seven-round tournament. Going into the last round, both Gaealafshwe and Pitlagano were joint-first with six points, while Chaka and Boikhutswane were half a point behind. The last round pairings had Pitlagano against Gaealafshwe on the top table, Providence Oatlhotse versus Boikhutswane on board two while Chaka squared up against Ivon Makabe in board three. The top table clashes promised to be thrillers as the players had already qualified for the semis and were therefore under no pressure that usually characterise the last round games. Indeed, the games turned out to be action-packed. On board one, Pitlagano straight away went for the kill with his kingside pawns. This provided Gaealafshwe with a chance to open up that sector of the board, leaving Pitlagano's king with no cover. The tournament winner made only one mistake in the game, which could have seen him lose two pawns without compensation, but Pitlagano missed the kill. From then on, Pitlagano had no answers to the hammerings on his position and he duly resigned. Afterwards Gaealafshwe told Mmegi Sport that nothing much should be read in his impressive win in what is only a qualification event. "I won't even talk about my chances in the finals as I still have the semis to contend with. It is possible some players just wanted to make it through and did not play to their strengths."
The board two game provided an opportunity for Oatlhotse to seek revenge for the painful loss he suffered against Boikhutswane in last year's championship. However he was soon forced on the defensive, as he was never able to generate any counter play and was saved by the clock. The two players agreed to a draw with only seconds remaining on their clocks and Oatlhotse under siege. In board three final game, Makabe could not penetrate Chaka's Alekhine's Defence, and he must have been relieved with the draw. Makabe had signalled his intentions to settle the game peacefully as he adopted a modest set-up despite having the white pieces. Although Chaka tried hard to unlock his opponent, the draw was inevitable. After the first round, 23 men joined defending champion and FIDE Master Phemelo Khetho in the semi-finals to be played on February 9-11 at the National Stadium. Seven women and seven juniors made it to the finals of their respective competitions. Defending champions Tshepiso Lopang and Kagiso Molosiwa await them as women and junior champions respectively.
