The Alliance of Sahel States launches and wins
The First International Team Chess Tournament of the Alliance of Sahel States has officially opened in Bamako
How many of you have been to Africa? And not just visited, but played in a major chess tournament there? Yet, even here, our Moscow Region chess players made their mark, playing their first games today!
Recently, cooperation between the Moscow Region Chess Federation and the African continent has been developing rapidly. Memorandums are being signed, the “African Chess League” continues to succeed, and this past February, African players competed in our flagship event, the “Russian Chess Crown.” The time for a return visit arrived, and it did not keep us waiting! On May 30th, the capital of Mali, Bamako, hosted the First International Tournament of the Alliance of Sahel States. For Mali, this is a landmark event, as it marks the first time the country is hosting a chess tournament of this level.
The team tournament features players from five nations: Mali (as the host fielded two teams), Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Russia–more precisely, the Moscow Region. By the gracious invitation of the Malian Chess Federation and its president, Youssouf Maiga, a Russian delegation composed of FIDE Masters Mikhail Korovin and Alexander Tumanov together with Women’s International Master Ekaterina Smirnova traveled to Bamako.
After a long and difficult journey (the trip with a layover in Ethiopia took almost a full day), our players landed in Bamako airport on May 29th. They were personally by Youssef Maiga and representatives of “African Initiative “– a Russian news agency covering events in Africa. “African Initiative” has long supported us with all matters concerning the African continent, and this time Andrey Belonogov and Natalia Dembele stepped in to look after our chess players under their protection – it’s not easy to navigate a foreign country on your own!
The tournament is being held at the luxurious five-star “Granada Amitié Bamako” hotel. The participants, including the Russians, are staying there as well. The venue sits right beside the majestic Niger River. The city also boasts a National Museum, a zoo, the Africa Tower, and a colorful market where you can buy all sorts of souvenirs, even a monkey’s head!
On the morning of May 30th, a grand opening ceremony was held at the hotel. The honored guests included Mali’s Minister of Sport, Abdul Kassim Ibrahima Fomba, and the famous Moldovan grandmaster and FIDE Executive Director, Viktor Bologan and Youssef Maiga took the floor but he wasn’t the only one in the room who could boast the title of national chess federation president. Almost every delegation was led by its federation’s leader: Boureima Adamou Noma represented Niger, Nicolas Carbonel from Burkina Faso, and fFofana Ibrahima Sory led Guinea. Russian diplomats also attended: Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Russia to Mali Igor Gromyko and Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Russia to the Republic of Niger Viktor Voropaev.
To cap off the ceremony, Minister of Sport Abdul Kassim Ibrahima Fombe played a ceremonial exhibition game against Ekaterina Smirnova, which concluded in a friendly draw.
The tournament format is original: for the first three days, six teams play a round-robin in five rounds, and for the next three days, an open Swiss-system event will be held. The time control is the currently popular “rapid classic.” The tournament was originally scheduled for mid-May but was postponed due to an unstable political situation in Bamako. Because of the new dates, our full delegation could not attend, leaving us with only three players for a four-board in the team event. Our team was already mentally preparing to take a loss on the last board every round, but Andrey Belonogov saved the day by agreeing to play for us.
In the first round, the MRCF team defeated the chess players from Guinea. Tomorrow features two matches at once–against Burkina Faso and Mali’s first team.