South African Chess Championship

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The South African Chess Championship was first organised in 1892 by the . 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[]

Year City Winner Black Closed Winner Women's Winner
1892 Cape Town
[1]
1897 Cape Town
1899 Durban
1903 Johannesburg Francis Joseph Lee
1906 Cape Town Bruno Edgar Siegheim
1910 Cape Town
1912 Johannesburg Bruno Edgar Siegheim[2]
1920 Cape Town
1924 Durban
1926 Johannesburg
1928 Cape Town
1935 Johannesburg
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
1955 Cape Town Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1957 Durban Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1959 Johannesburg Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1961 Cape Town
1963 Pretoria
1965 Salisbury
1967 Johannesburg David Friedgood
1969 Pretoria
1971 Johannesburg David Friedgood
1973 Cape Town David Friedgood
1975 East London
Charles de Villiers
1977 Pretoria
Charles de Villiers
1979 Johannesburg
1981 Cape Town Charles de Villiers
1983 Pretoria
1985 Johannesburg
Charles de Villiers
1986 (Durban)
1987 Pretoria Charles de Villiers[4] (Worcester)
1988 (East London)
1989 Secunda Charles de Villiers (Bellville South)
1991 (CPUT Campus)
1993 Cape Town
1994 CPUT Campus
1995 Cape Town
1998 Bruma Lake
Watu Kobese
2000 Port Elizabeth Nicholas van der Nat
2001 Watu Kobese Cecile van der Merwe
2002
2003 Kempton Park Watu Kobese
Kenny Solomon
2004
2005 Cape Town Nicholas van der Nat Denise Frick
2007 Cape Town Henry Robert Steel ?
2008
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]

Winners of the South African Title[]

References[]

  1. ^ The title being shared after a drawn playoff match.
  2. ^ Bruno Edgar Siegheim defeated in a playoff match.
  3. ^ Kurt Dreyer who defeated 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.
  • 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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