African Championship 2016
The African Championship 2016 was won by NDiaga Samb from Senegal (25 points) before Alain Dingombe Bukasa from Congo (22 points) and Jean Marc Ndjofang from Cameroon (22 points). Samb started and ended with three draws, but in the middle of the tournament he was extremely productive, and won 8 games.
NDiaga Samb - Adonis Joachim Ano 2-0 (round 4)
After Ano's 21-27 Samb managed to sow confusion using the piece sacrifice 36.34-30! 27x36 37.38-32! 15-20? Of course ≡ 14-19? was not possible due to 38.47-41 36x47 39.39-34 47x20 40.25x3. And after ≡ 13-18? 38.45-40! black is losing too ( 7-11? 39.39-33 28x39 40.24-20 15x24 41.30x6 W+). But with the counter sacrifice ≡ 36-41! 38.47x36 14-19 it was possible to survive. ≡ 38.24x15 7-11 39.30-24 11-16 40.25-20 14x25 41.15-10 9-14 42.10x19 23x14 43.32x23 22-27 44.24-20 14-19 45.23x14 13-19 46.14x23 25x14 47.35-30 16-21 48.30-24 21-26 49.24-20 14x25 50.23-19 27-32 51.37x28 26-31 52.19-14 31-37 53.14-10 25-30 54.10-4 37-42 55.47x38 36-41 56.38-33
NDiaga Samb - Nfamara Camarra 2-0 (round 6)
This is a terrible move, but probably Camarra had no faith in the only alternative ≡ 11-17 31.37-31 26x37 32.42x31 17-21 33.31-26 13-18 34.26x17 12x21 35.39-34 14-20. Then the black position looks lost, but there is miraculous escape after 36.36-31 6-11! (not ≡ 21-26? 37.28-22! 26x30 38.22x2 W+) ≡ 37.31-26! (not ≡ 37.28-22? 9-14! 38.22x2 23-29 39.34x23 19x26 40.2x30 21x43 41.48x39 25x43 B+) ≡ 11-17 38.48-42 8-13 39.42-37 9-14 40.34-29 23x34 41.40x29 18-23!! 42.29x9 14x3 43.35-30 25x34 44.27-22 24-30 45.22x11 16x7 46.26x17 20-24 and the game will end in a draw.
≡ 31.27-22 11-17 32.22x11 16x7 33.36-31 7-11 34.31-27 11-16 35.39-34 13-18 36.34x23 18x29 37.35-30 24x44 38.33x2 44-50 39.38-33 50-44 40.2-35 44-49 41.42-38 16-21 42.27x16 12-17 43.28-22 17x39 44.48-43 39x48 45.35-2 48x31 46.32-27 49x21 47.16x36
Aime Severin Yoan - NDiaga Samb 0-2 (round 8)
When Samb played 18-23 his opponent could not resist to take a combination.
40.25-20? 14x25 41.39-33 28x39 42.34x43 25x34 43.35-30 34x25 44.37-32 19x30 45.32-28 22x33 46.38x27
However, the remaining 5x5 position is lost for white.
White slows down the black break through using 35-40? 48.27-22 17x28 49.38-33 28x39 50.43x45.
A logical move, but it is inaccurate. The proper way to win was ≡ 13-18 48.36-31 35-40 49.31-26 17-22! 50.27-21 22-27 51.21x32 40-45 etc.
A draw was possible after ≡ 48.36-31 30-34 49.31-26 35-40 50.27-21 40-44 51.21x12 44-49 52.26-21 etc.
Now white is without any defense.
49.33-28 35-40 50.27-22 18x27 51.28-23 40-44
NDiaga Samb - Youssou NDiaye 2-0 (round 9)
After 14-20 18.32-27! 17-21? Samb decided the game with a combination: 19.28x17 21x32 20.38x27 12x32 21.33-28 32x23 22.34-29 24x33 23.39x19 13x24 24.26-21 16x27 25.31x4
NDiaga Samb - Adama Kone 2-0 (round 12)
After ≡ 21-26 43.32x21 26x17 it is black who has the best chances to win. White can not play 44.37-32? due to 17-22! 45.32-27 22x31 46.36x27 6-11 47.38-32 11-17 B+ So the only possible move is ≡ 44.36-31! and now for example 6-11 45.37-32 11-16 46.32-27 17-22 47.31-26 22x31 48.26x37 16-21 49.38-32 10-15 50.43-38 21-27 51.32x21 15-20 52.24x15 25-30 53.34x25 23x41 54.21-16 41-46 55.16-11 and white escapes.
≡ 44.37-31! 21-26 45.31x22 18x27 46.29x18 13x22 47.32x21 26x17 48.38-32
Now it is white who dictates the game.
17-21 49.43-38 11-16 50.34-29 22-27 51.33-28 21-26 52.32x21 16x27 53.39-33 10-15 54.38-32 27x38 55.33x42 9-14! 56.28-22 15-20?
This is losing. A relatively easy draw was possible after ≡ 8-13! 57.22-17 14-19 58.17-11 19x30 59.11-7 30-35 etc.
≡ 57.24x15 25-30 58.29-24 30x19 59.22-17 19-24 60.17-11 24-30 61.11-6 30-34 62.6-1 34-39 63.1-40 8-12 64.40x7 26-31 65.36x27 39-44 66.42-38 44-50 67.7-23 50-45 68.23x10
NDiaga Samb - Alpha Youla 2-0 (round 14)
The last victory of Samb remains a bit of a mystery. In this position with white to move, one would expect the game to quickly end in a draw after 67.1-6 28-32 68.6-22. However, the result table on Toernooibase mentions that white(!) won the game.
© Wieger Wesselink https://10x10.org