The Commonwealth and South African open

Gawain Jones

In one of the most important events taking place in Africa this year, Gawain Jones edged Nigel Short on tie-break, both players scoring 9.5/11. This prestigious event took place in Ekurhuleni in the Gauteng region (Johannesburg and Pretoria).

The tournament had a remarkable 367 participants, which could well be a record for sub-Saharan Africa. Fifteen nationalities were present, with the English pair Jones and Short finishing half-a-point ahead of three players on 9/11. Gawain Jones should move past the 2600 mark with this result.

Rank	Title	Name	Country	Rating	Points	Tie-break
1	GM	Jones Gawain CB	ENG	2596	9.5	56.5
2	GM	Short Nigel D	ENG	2682	9.5	55.5
3	GM	Smerdon David	AUS	2520	9.0	54.0
4	IM	Huschenbeth Niclas	GER	2502	9.0	53.0
5	GM	Kunte Abhijit	IND	2526	9.0	50.5
6	GM	Lafuente Pablo	ARG	2555	8.5	55.0
7	FM	Jere Daniel	ZAM	2344	8.5	54.0
8	IM	Grover Sahaj	IND	2485	8.5	53.5
9	GM	Laxman Rajaram	IND	2446	8.5	51.5
10	IM	Ringoir Tanguy	BEL	2399	8.5	50.5
11	IM	Karavade Eesha	IND	2343	8.5	48.5
12	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	IND	2604	8.0	54.5

For Africa, a tournament with seven GMs, 2 WGMs and 11 IMs is also exceptional.

Note the excellent result of the highest placed African player, Zambian Daniel Jere in seventh place.

For further information see the official site:

http://www.chessa.co.za/tournament_websites/CWCC2011/index.html