Lusaka — Teenage Egyptian Grand Master (GM), Ahmed Adly proved his mettle by beating a classy field to lift the African Chess Championship men's title in Lusaka, Zambia on Monday. The chess prodigy scooped seven out of a possible nine points to clinch the championship contested by 34 players. He secured the title with a last round win over Zambia's International Master (IM) Amon Simutowe. His major rival, GM Slim Belkhodja of Tunisia drew with IM Aimed Rizouk of Algeria in the last round to finish second. Adly and Belkhodja were joint first going into the last round.

With the Egyptian flag wrapped round his body, Adly said at the prize giving ceremony that it is a good feeling to win his second tournament in Lusaka. "I came here with the aim to win and I am happy to have achieved my objective. Maybe Lusaka is a good place for me." In 2001, Adly won the Africa Junior Chess Championships in Lusaka.

For winning this year's senior event, he got $5,000 (P28, 620) while Belkhodja walked away with U$ 4000 (P22, 920). Zambian Stanley Chumfwa and Ali Frhat of Egypt also won in the last round to finish joint second with Belkhodja and seal World Cup spots. Frhat and Chumfwa were rewarded with U$ 3000 (P17 190) and U$ 2500 (P14, 325) respectively. South Africa's IM Watu Kobese clinched the remaining World Cup spot after a play-off against IM Fouad El Taher of Egypt. The play-off was marred by controversy. The two were tied at 5.5 points and received $2,000 (P11, 460) each. The top six players in the tournament qualify for the World Cup.

Botswana's Ignatius Njobvu drew in the last round with Catarina Domingos of Angola to finish tenth. This is a good performance going by the array of titled professional players who were in attendance. Njobvu received $500 (P2, 865) and there is still hope that he might be crowned FIDE Master (FM). The tournament chief arbiter, Webster Kafumbwe, could not confirm if Njobvu had achieved an FM. He said he will seek clarification from the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

Njobvu played solidly and had he defeated Domingos, he would have qualified for the play offs with Kobese and El Taher. The other Botswana entrant, Moakofi Notha, finished with three points in what is a credible result in his first senior international event. His openings were good but he was let down by poor technique in many games. With time, he will improve and the experience he has acquired will be handy in his chess career. He is likely to receive an international rating from the event in January 2006 chess ranking list.