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Adegboyega & Ogbiyoyo Win the 2022 Nigeria National Chess Championships

A brilliant show of chess organisation, awe-inspiring performances, and an exclusive finale, separated the 2022 Nigeria National Chess Championships from every other tournament in the country. It was a grueling 9-round battle in the Open (Invitational) section of the Championship, and Fide Master Adebayo Adegboyega stood tall above all the other invited players by scoring 8 out of 9 points to become the new National Chess Champion of Nigeria thereby dethroning International Master Femi Balogun who put up a good fight and ended up in the second position. This performance caps a successful bounce back for Adegboyega who has been mainly inactive in the last nine years as far as major tournament participation is concerned. Adegboyega won the South West Chess Championship earlier in the year, represented Nigeria at the World Chess Olympiad in India and put up a good showing for Nigeria at the Africa Individual Chess Championship hosted in Lagos in September, 2022 before claiming the Nigeria National Chess Champion title.

In the female section of the championship, Woman Fide Master Ogbiyoyo Perpetual secured her back-to-back championship victory after a stiff opposition from 19 year old Suleiman Azumi Ayishat, who finished on the same point (7/9) with the champ.

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A playoff was needed to break the tie between the two (2) amazons, and they had to be separated by an Armageddon chess battle. At the end, needing a win, the defending champion pulled the victory out of the hat, defeating her team mate in the end. With this victory, Ogbiyoyo set all doubts aside about being the best female player in Nigeria at the moment. The Masters Section was won outrightly by International Master Adu Oladapo, who ended the section with a bullish 6/7 points, having two (2) draws and five (5) wins in seven (7) games played.

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The veteran International Master Adu, who is a former national champion, is making a strong return to the zenith of Nigerian chess and is keen on qualifying to take a shot at the national champion’s title in 2023.

Meanwhile, the Open (Under 2000) was claimed by Oladipupo Mafoitan, on tiebreaks over Ambesh (an Indian based in Nigeria), after both players ended the tournament with 6/7 points, 15-year-old Tersee Ferdinand played quality games and held the lead of the section until his final round loss to Oladipupo Mafoitan. This loss moved him from the top position to third position in the field.

The Junior section revealed some incredible young talents. Emmanuel Joy Idara was victorious in the Under 20 category by getting 5.5 out of 6 points. IM Okeke Isaac came 2nd and Okemakinde Toluwanimi and Olisa Tennyson came 3rd.

Meanwhile in the Under 14 category, Eleven-year-old Victor Nwankwo emerged as the winner with 5.5 out of 6 points. Ekunke Goodness came 2nd with 5 out of 6 points, while Li Mo and Everestus Joy came in as Joint 3rd place with 4.5 points each.

Finally, in the Under 10 category, Henry Evbuomwan became victorious after recording no losses and getting 6 out of 6, Michelle Nwankwo and Olanrewaju Obaoluwa emerged Joint 2nd with 5 points each. Itoya Dean great, Agbi Thompson, Adenusi Imran, Olanrewaju Inuoluwadunsimi and Iseoluwa Sobanjo all came in as Joint 3rd with 4 points.

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