The 2015 African Youth Chess Championship is on the starting blocks. The participants are converging to Lusaka. From 05th to 13th December, the African young talented players will fight honorably for excellence and greatness.

All the action to be followed on the social media facebook (African Youth Chess Championship 2015) and twitter (hashtag #AYCC2015)

OPENING CEREMONY

The opening ceremony of African Youth Chess Championship 2015 has taken place the 5th December in Golden Peacock hotel, Lusaka, Zambia. With the presence of the Zambian Minister of Youth and Sports, the Deputy-Minister of Health and Patron of the event, the President of African Chess Confederation, Zambian Olympic Committee members, Zambian National Sports Council members, the President of Zambia Chess Federation, the Ambassadors of participating countries and more than 250 kids and parents. After the different welcome speeches, the Patron of the event, Deputy-Minister of Health played a blitz match against the highest rated participant, an IM from Egypt, and the competition has been declared open by the Minister of Youth and Sports.

As it was his anniversary, the Minister got a nice surprise by being offered a cake by the Chess Federation of Zambia. He shared the cake with all the attendance.

The play will take off the 6th December with Round 1 in all the categories. Pictures of the Opening Ceremony.

CLOSING CEREMONY

The African Youth Chess Championship 2015 has come to a good end this saturday 12th December at the Golden Peacock hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. The nine rounds of this event has been the ground for great fights for glory and honors with a good show of sportsmanship. The level of play has been very satisfactory, a friendship and camaraderie atmosphere has reigned from the beginning to the end. The 2015 AYCC saw 12 African countries coming together in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. 226 players participated across U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16, U-18 categories. Federations that were represented included Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the host Zambia. The top three in each of the twelve categories of the event has been awarded medals and trophies. Find below full list of the medallists (full results here):

Under 08 Boys
Gold. Khaled Youssef EGY
Silver. Kotze Jacobus Christiaan RSA
Bronze. Vather Shayur RSA

Under 08 Girls
Gold. Govender Talia RSA
Silver. Kati Imene ALG
Bronze. Du Plessis Elne RSA

Under 10 Boys
Gold. CM Bousmaha Wassel ALG
Silver. CM Benyahia Safin ALG
Bronze. Dykema Joshua RSA

Under 10 Girls
Gold. WCM Shabane Lina ALG
Silver. WCM Marape Naledi BOT
Bronze. Vather Kasmira RSA

Under 12 Boys
Gold. CM Essa Naseem Ahmed RSA
Silver. CM Schnabel Johann Emil RSA
Bronze. CM Yettouche Yaristan ALG

Under 12 Girls
Gold. WFM Nassr Lina ALG
Silver. Moodley Karmishta RSA
Bronze. WCM Allam Yara EGY

Under 14 Boys
Gold. CM Djabri Massinas ALG
Silver. FM Adrar Sofiane ALG
Bronze. Aravind Vengarai KEN

Under 14 Girls
Gold. WFM Nassr Rania ALG
Silver. Marais Nina RSA
Bronze. Besa Masaiti BOT

Under 16 Boys
Gold. CM Nassr Ahmed ALG
Silver. Kolver Chris RSA
Bronze. Mulenga Chileshe Raphael ZAM

Under 16 Girls
Gold. WFM Maouchi Amina ALG
Silver. WCM Padayachee Keyana Chloe RSA
Bronze. Colver Michelle RSA

Under 18 Boys
Gold. FM Ouaret Abdelouhab ALG
Silver. IM Wagdy Andro EGY
Bronze. Ncube Sifiso ZIM

Under 18 Girls
Gold. WIM Wafa Shahenda EGY
Silver. WIM Ehab Tasneem EGY
Bronze. Deshpande Sanjana Satish KEN

Medal statistics: ‪
#‎Algeria‬ 12 (8+3+1) ‪
#‎SouthAfrica‬ 13 (2+6+5) ‪
#‎Egypt‬ 05 (2+2+1) ‪
#‎Botswana‬ 02 (0+1+1) ‪
#‎Kenya‬ 02 (0+0+2) ‪
#‎Zambia‬ 01 (0+0+1) ‪
#‎Zimbabwe‬ 01 (0+0+1)

Safe trip back home to the different delegations. Pictures of the Closing Ceremony.