Luena - Horácio Pascoal, a chess player without a position in the national ranking, became champion of the first edition of the “Nelson Mandela” International Tournament, in chess, by beating, this Sunday, in the last round, Laurindo Missengo, 44th ranked in the Angolan chart of this sport.
Tied by five points each, at the start of the last round (7th), the match was marked by an impressive balance, with Horácio Pascoal, adopting the English opening, which resulted in an aggressive game.
Over the first 30 moves and around 3 hours of play, the players were already running out of time, in a very tense dispute.
Taking advantage of castling on opposite wings, Horácio Pascoal launched an aggressive attack on the opposing King with the threat of a checkmate in two, which forced his opponent, Laurindo Missengo, to sacrifice quality and maintain a slight balance on the board.
Under intense pressure in the last moments of the match, Laurindo Missengo made a crucial mistake by losing the queen, and sealing his defeat.
With 6 wins in seven games, including a defeat only to Dikson Donaldo, defending provincial champion, Horácio Pascoal, became the champion of the first edition of the Nelson Mandela Tournament.
Speaking to ANGOP, Horácio Pascual highlighted the competitiveness of the race, recognizing the potential of his opponents, particularly Laurindo Missengo and Donaldo Dikson.
This former player of Macovi (a leading chess school in the country), encouraged the Provincial Association of the sport to maintain regularity in holding tournaments to raise the competitive level of chess players in this province, which is already the home of "sport-science" in the east of the Country.
The head of the association, Alione Muzangueno, highlighted the achievement of the objectives set, mainly the competitiveness of the race, which, for juniors Mateus José and Geovana Ngueve, served as preparation for the nationals in August, in Malanje.
Final standing
1 - Horácio Pascual - 6 Points
2 - Laurindo Missengo - 5 pts
3 - Alione Muzangueno - 4.5 pts
4 - Donaldo Dikson - 4 pts
5 - Mateus José - 4 pts
6 - Adilson Coutinho - 3 pts
7- Emanuel Deleito - 2 pts
8 - Geovana Ngueve -2 pts
YD/CF/jmc
