Zambian fells Goliath

By Malcolm Pein
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 05/09/2007

It was a good first round for the British players at the 800th Anniversary open tournament which is taking place alongside the UK v China Summit match at St Georges Hall in Liverpool city centre. Several of the visiting masters were either defeated or held to draws on the top boards.

Richard Palliser’s performance stood out as he overcame the highly rated Swedish GM Emmanuel Berg who had the temerity to defend with the Modern Benoni, an opening about which Palliser has written a couple of books.

Grandmaster Colin McNab beat Yuri Vovk of Ukraine and Gary Quillan, playing in his home city held GM Normunds Miezis to a draw with Black. There was something of a local derby in the first round as GM elect Stewart Haslinger of Southport defeated John Littlewood from Skelmersdale.

Amon Simutowe has become the first Black African to qualify for the Grandmaster title after victory at the Euwe Stimulans tournament recently completed at Arnhem. The 25 year old Zambian has been travelling the world for six years playing chess and is a national hero in his homeland having been named Sportsman of the Year. He now needs to gain some rating points to get to the 2500 level required by Fide.

Here is the full article.

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