| Egypt dominates the first day of play at the African Games |
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| Sunday, 25 August 2019 00:24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The Egyptian team got away with five victories in their first five matches at the African Games Chess Championship, conceding only 4 draws in the total 20 games they played today, with no losses. With a line-up that includes two world-class Grandmasters like Bassem Amin and Ahmed Adly, and the sister WGMs Shrook and Shahenda Wafa, Egypt is the top-seeded team, with a gap of 150 rating points over the second, Morocco. Today, they justified their favourites' status, beating Ethiopia (4-0), Angola (3½-½), Algeria (3½-½), Morocco (3½-½) and Tunisia (3½-½). Having defeated their two main competitors, Morocco and Algeria, the Egyptian team seems to have the triumph in their own hands, and only a collapse in the second day of play could make them miss the gold medal. Among the relative surprises during the first day of competition, it is worth mentioning the good result of Zimbawe (currently third with three victories, one draw and one loss), and the relatively poor role played by the local team, Morocco. Probably the hosts were affected by the extra pressure and they performed below what was expected from them. FIDE Vice President Adeyemi Olalekan made the ceremonial first move in the first board of the match Egypt - Ethiopia, escorted by Lewis Ncube (African Chess Confederation President), Sheikh Saoud Al Moala (President of the Arab Chess Federation), Victor Bologan (FIDE Executive Director), Mohamed Al Mudahka (FIDE International Director), and FIDE President's Advisor Berik Balgabaev. Tournament Director Mustapha Amazaal (Morocco) made the opening speech, welcoming all the participants and thanking FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich for his continuous support, stressing the fact that the event wouldn't have been possible without the financial support of the International Chess Federation. Standings after 5 rounds:
     
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