South African Chess Championship Explained

The South African Chess Championship was first organised in 1892 by the Cape Town Chess Club. 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		Arthur Rivett Edward Roberts^[1]
1897		Edward Roberts
1899		Abraham Michael
1903		Francis Joseph Lee
1906		Bruno Edgar Siegheim
1910		Harry Duhan
1912		Bruno Edgar Siegheim^[2]
1920		A.J.A. Cameron Alexander Chavkin
1924		Alexander Chavkin
1926		Max Blieden
1928		Max Blieden
1935		John C. Archer jr
1937		Kurt Dreyer^[3]
1939		Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1945		Wolfgang Heidenfeld John Holford
1947		Wolfgang Heidenfeld Kurt Dreyer
1949		Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1951		Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1953		John E. Eriksen
1955		Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1957		Wolfgang Heidenfeld
1959		Wolfgang Heidenfeld Kenneth Kirby
1961		Woolf Gerber
1963		Kenneth Kirby Kees van der Meyden
1965		Piet Kroon
1967		David Friedgood
1969		Piet Kroon
1971		David Friedgood
1973		David Friedgood
1975		Piet Kroon Charles de Villiers
1977		David A. Walker Charles de Villiers
1979		Frank Korostenski
1981		Charles de Villiers
1983		Donald Macfarlane
1985		Clyde Wolpe Charles de Villiers
1986			Shabier Bhawoodien (Durban)
1987	Pretoria	Charles de Villiers^[4]	Deon Pick (Worcester)
1988			Maxwell Solomon (East London)
1989	Secunda	Charles de Villiers	Deon Solomon (Bellville South)
1991			Deon Solomon(CPUT Campus)
1993	Cape Town	George Michelakis
1994	CPUT Campus	Deon Solomon
1995	Cape Town	David Gluckman
1998	Bruma Lake	Mark Rubery Watu Kobese
2000	Port Elizabeth	Nicholas van der Nat		Michelle Minnaar
2001		Watu Kobese		Cecile van der Merwe
2002				Mignon Pretorius
2003	Kempton Park	Watu Kobese Kenny Solomon		Mignon Pretorius
2004				Carmen de Jager
2005	Cape Town	Nicholas van der Nat		Denise Frick
2007	Cape Town	Henry Robert Steel		?
2008				Carmen de Jager
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]
2022	Cape Town	Daniel Cawdery^[11]		Chloe Badenhorst^[12]

Winners of the South African Title

• 1897 Edward Roberts (defeated Arthur Cameron in challenge)
• 1898 Edward Roberts (defeated P.G. Van Breda in challenge)
• 1910 Max Blieden (defeated Bruno Edgar Siegheim in challenge)
• 1911 Bruno Edgar Siegheim (defeated Harry Duhan in challenge)
• 1912 Bruno Edgar Siegheim (defeated Henk Meihuizen in challenge)

References

1. The title being shared after a drawn playoff match.
2. [Bruno Edgar Siegheim]
3. [Kurt Dreyer]
4. The tournament was actually won by the visiting Argentinian Grandmaster Miguel Quinteros, who was not eligible for the national title
5. Web site: THE WEEK IN CHESS 1001. Mark Crowther. 13 January 2014. TWIC. 18 June 2014.
6. Web site: THE WEEK IN CHESS 1103 . TWIC . 29 December 2015 . 29 December 2015 . Mark Crowther.
7. Web site: KZN’s International Master (IM) Johannes Mabusela and WP’s FM Calvin Klaasen co-champions at 2017 South African Closed Chess Championships Open . Mubayiwa . Bruce . 2017-12-19 . africachess.net.
8. Web site: 2017 South African Closed Chess Championships Women . chess-results.com.
9. Web site: 2019 South African Closed Chess Championships Open . chess-results.com.
10. Web site: 2019 South African Closed Chess Championships Women . chess-results.com.
11. Web site: Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2022 SACCC . 2022-05-16 . chess-results.com.
12. Web site: February, Jesse Nikki vs. Badenhorst, Chloe - South African Women's Championship 2022 . 2022-05-14 . chess24.com . en.

• A History of Chess in Southern Africa, by Leonard Reitstein (2003), . 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: http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/keithru/mccord.html