PDBY featured athlete: Cora Mak

Sport

TuksAthletics at World Athletics Relay

Boitumelo Kokwe

The World Athletics Relay took place from 1 to 2 May in Silesia, Poland - where the event gave athletes the chance to compete on a global scale before the World Olympic Games in Tokyo (set to commence on 23 July 2021).

As an international event, the World Athletics Relay saw South Africa as one of the countries which competed. SA’s participation came through Athletics South Africa (ASA) selecting three teams, totalling 17 athletes.

The squad also consisted of the following Tuks athletes: Akani Simbine, Clarence Munyai, Thando Dlodlo, Emile Erasmus, Gift Leotlela and Luxolo Adams.

Amongst the selected athletes from Tuks, four of them (Thando Dlodlo, Gift Leotlela, Clarence Munyai and Akani Simbine) won a gold medal at the championships. Simbine said the gold medals were won because “[they came] to Poland to win a medal. And [they] did”.

Luxolo Adams will also be participating in the World Olympic Games later this year.

Image: timeslive.co.za

PDBY Featured athlete: Cora Mak

Kayla Thomas

Woman FIDE Master and TuksChess star, Cora Mak, began playing chess at eight years old. Now a masters student at UP, she competes in university and national championships, winning as an individual and as part of the TuksChess team. PDBY spoke to Mak about her career in chess so far, and some of the highlights of the game.

How did you get into the sport?

There was a chess board at home and it was my brother that was curious about it. My dad taught us how to play and it so happened that chess coaching had just started at our primary school.

What is your favourite thing about chess?

The thought process throughout the game because you never know what your opponent might play - hence having to think about many ‘lines’ (variations) in order to compensate for each possible move. [...] Also, to think of moves that improve my own position and not simply responding to my opponent.

You won the 2019 University Sport South Africa (USSA) championships, can you walk us through the process of preparing and competing?

TuksChess hosts clinics, throughout the year, where we have a coaching session followed by a mini tournament amongst our team. Another preparation for USSAs was to play a lot of online chess and to also revise my ‘openings’. As for the competing part - I am certainly more confident over the board than off it. So I must thank my teammates for the encouragement they gave and for their help in the preparation against some of my opponents.

How have you continued with chess during the pandemic?

I play online on Lichess, mainly bullet games (1 minute on each side) but I love to play hyperbullet and ultrabullet as well (30 seconds and 15 seconds respectively).

I also play for TuksChess in online tournaments against many SA Universities. The tournament is held every Sunday. TuksChess is run by students, Mfundo Masiya and myself, and this year we have started hosting clinics on Google Meet.

What are your goals for the future in chess?

Specifically for TuksChess: I’d like to leave the club to students that will step up and continue to run this amazing club. Over the past several years, excluding 2020, TuksChess has been at the top of the USSA standings and I’d love to see TuksChess thrive for the years to come.

What are some highlights of your chess career so far?

To have played in two World Youth Chess Championships. I competed in the African Youth Chess Championship where I won in my section and got a title: WFM, Woman FIDE Master. [And] winning the 2019 USSA Championship female section, individually and as a team.

What is the most challenging part of playing chess?

Not blundering.

I find it challenging to analyse the position objectively. It’s easy to have the feeling that you’re winning or [have] the advantage but it gets hard when it comes to critiquing/analysing a position not solely on

Image provided material. Eg. You can be up on material but still be losing and not even know it.

How do you stay focused in a demanding game?

I don’t really know, but what I can say is that in long games, I end up walking around and analysing other games to just take a short break from my own game. Some people leave their board but still analyse their game in their head - I can’t. I would also walk around and see the board from my opponents view, although I don’t do that often.

Who has most influenced you in your chess career?

Johannes Mabusela. He was my coach and I’ve learnt so much of what I know now from him. Also, after tournaments he would go over my games [which equals] added pressure to not make mistakes.

What advice would you give aspiring players of the game?

Don’t take a piece just because you can.

But on a more serious note, I’d say to analyse your games. Don’t just play continuously without learning something from your games.

Chess World Championship candidate found

Mfundo Masiya

The FIDE Candidates Chess Championship 2020-2021 was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia from 17 March to 25 March 2020. Halfway through the event it was paused and postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed on April 2021, more than a year after it began, and finished on 27 April. Many are calling it the ‘longest ever chess tournament’.

The Candidates’ tournament, the second last tournament on the chess world championship cycle, is an eight player double round-robin event where the winner wins a large share of €500 000 and, more importantly, the right to challenge for the World Chess Champion title. The eight players qualify through various criteria in which one needs to be one of the best chess players in the world.

The tournament was controversial from its onset as it began just as the COVID-19 pandemic was picking up. One of the players who had qualified, Azerbaijani Grandmaster (GM) Teimour Radjabov, cited concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic and the world chess federation’s (FIDE) risk management solutions. He asked that the tournament be postponed, but FIDE responded that that could not be done. He withdrew from the event and was promptly replaced.

The tournament began on 17 March and halfway through the lead was being shared by Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Radjabov’s replacement and popularly referred to as MVL). On 26 March 2020, the Russian Government announced restrictions of air traffic with foreign countries to take effect the next day, 27 March. This prompted FIDE to immediately pause the event so players could make it back to their home countries.

After this postponement, Radjabov asked that he be reinstated back into the tournament. This was not feasible according to the tournament rules and FIDE compensated Radjabov by offering him a spot in the next Name Candidates’ tournament.

The tournament resumed on 19 April 2021, right where it had stopped. On resumption, American GM Fabiano Caruana (the previous candidate) beat MVL in one of the best chess games this year, sending shockwaves around the chess world and leading many to believe he could win the event. Nepomniachtchi, however, did not let go of his lead which put pressure on the players chasing him. Dutch GM Anish Giri came closest to catching up but a loss in the penultimate round meant that with a round to spare, Nepomniachtchi was crowned the candidate and next challenger for the World Chess Championship. The World Chess Championship will occur in Dubai from 21 November to 16 December. Nepomniachtchi will be facing World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen who will be mounting his fourth World Championship defence. Rank Qualification GM Fabiano Caruana World: 2 USA: 1 Previous Candidate GM Ding Liren World: 3 CHN: 1 World Cup Runner Up GM Alexander Grischuk World: 4 RUS: 1 Fide Grand Prix Winner GM Ian Nepomniachtchi World: 5 RUS: 1 Fide Grand Runner Up GM Teimour Radjabov (with- World: 9 AZE: 1 World Cup Winner drew) GM Anish Giri World: 11 NL: 1 Highest Average Rating GM Wang Hao World: 12 CHN:2 Fide Grand Swiss Winner GM Kirill Alekseenko World: 39 RUS: 11 Wild card Chosen by organizer GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave World: 8 FRA: 1 Highest Average Rating