A second-year student in BCom Financial Accounting recently won Stellenbosch University’s (SU) first intra-university tournament of the year.
SMF News attended the Maties Chess blitz tournament, which took place on 9 May at the indoor netball court near the Coetzenburg Athletics Stadium. Approximately 30 to 40 people participated.
The tournament is a predecessor to the upcoming SU campus league chess tournament, according to Zanté Palmer, secretary of Maties Chess and a second-year student in BEd (Foundation Phase Teaching) at SU.
Samuel Nathan, a second-year student in BCom Financial Accounting at SU, was announced as the tournament winner.
The setup for the Maties Chess blitz tournament. Pairs were allocated a chessboard and a station for each round of the tournament by the Maties Chess executive committee members. SMF News was in attendance. PHOTO: Iman Allie
According to Nathan, it is important to have a good understanding of blitz chess as a player.
“You need to be playing a lot, because it’s sort of like trying to write an exam in half the time,” said Nathan. “You can’t think. You just need to know the answer.”
The tournament was restricted to SU students only, due to limited equipment, according to Palmer. But she said that the club plans to host future tournaments that Cape Town-based players could also compete in.
Tournament rules
“Each round, your time control is three minutes and two seconds [for each] increment,” said Kahill Dhevcharran, chairperson of Maties Chess and third-year student in BSc Computer Science at SU, on the rules of the blitz tournament. “That means each time you press the clock, you get two more seconds to play, and if your time goes to zero, you immediately lose the round.”
The tournament consisted of six rounds, according to Dhevcharran.
In preparation for the tournament, the Maties Chess executive committee sorted participants into pairs for the first round, and afterwards paired players of equal points, said Dhevcharran.
Joel Lee (left), a Stellenbosch University (SU) alumnus, and Samuel Nathan (right), a second-year student in BCom Financial Accounting at SU, playing against each other in their final round of the recent Maties Chess’ intra-university blitz chess tournament. PHOTO: Iman Allie
Tie-breaker to decide the winner
Nathan won by a score of 5.5 points, even though he had initially tied with Joel Lee, an SU alumnus, said Dhevcharran.
The Buchholz system was used as a tie-breaker. According to this system, the sum of the points of Nathan and Lee’s previous opponents was used to determine the winner, said Dhevcharran.
Nathan was awarded a cash prize of R250. Second place received R150, and third, R100, according to Palmer.
Samuel Nathan, the winner of the Maties Chess intra-university blitz chess tournament. Nathan is a second-year student in BCom Financial Accounting at Stellenbosch University (SU). SMF News was in attendance at the tournament on 9 May. PHOTO: Iman Allie