The 2020 WP Open Chess Tournament took place on the 7th and 8th March at the Sarepta Sport and Recreation Centre in Kuils River. This is one of the flagship chess tournaments on the calendar of Chess Western Province with a total prize fund of R18,250 and it attracted a total of 320 entries.
The Championship section featured the current South African Champion FM Daniel Barrish as well as three former South African Champions namely FM Calvin Klaasen, IM Watu Kobese and FM Shabier Bhawoodien. After two days of gruelling chess matches, FM Daniel Barrish eventually emerged as the overall winner of the Championship section (5/6), followed by IM Watu Kobese (5/6) in second place and FM Calvin Klaassen (4.5/6) in third position.
The Elite Section (Chessa rating < 1700 ELO) was won by Christopher Londt whilst Virgil Titus was the winner of the Prestige Section (Chessa rating < 1300 ELO). The event also featured a Development section (winner Paul Wilson), Under 10 section (winner Emlyn Wilson) and an Under 8 section (winner Sinddhizhai Divakaran).
The WP Open is the second major chess tournament organised by Chess Western Province this year, the first being the Cape of Good Hope Open (260 entries) two weeks earlier. Based upon the large numbers of chess players that attended these prestigious events, it is clear that chess players in the City of Cape Town are hungry for high quality chess tournaments and that the various chess development initiatives across the City of Cape Town is definitely bearing positive results.