BY PORCHÉ-LEE OBARAY
Clarendon Preparatory School Grade 2 pupil Viha Beecum has proven to be quite the little whizzkid at chess.
Beecum recently represented Buffalo City for the first time at the 2019 South African Junior Chess Championships (SAJCC) held in Johannesburg from January 4 to 8, where she went up against 2,300 of SA’s top chess players.
She played as part of the Border Under 10A team in the junior inter-regional competition, on board eight, taking the prize for the most wins on that specific board.
After seven rounds, Beecum finished with six wins and one draw, leaving her with a total of 6.5 out of 7 points.
Following the team event, she went on to play in the individual Wild Card event, where she scored herself another 3.5 out of 7 points, finishing in the top half of players in that event.
According to chess-results.com, the individual rating averages for the Buffalo City U10A members after seven rounds of the team competition, were as follows:
- Samuel Chang (Stirling) – 1048
- Gary Driffield (Stirling) – 999
- Tyler Botha (Selborne) – 913
- Aldré Deang (Hudson Park) – 896
- Emma Obaray (Clarendon) – 807
- Isiphile Mabongo (Hudson Park) – 707
- Elih Prinsloo (Selborne) – 701
- Beecum (Clarendon) – 695
- Rebecca Scheckter (Clarendon) – 700