- A marvelous feat by Amon Simutowe

Weldone Amon! I am myself a sub-Saharan African who learnt the game on the continent, was considered somewhat of a local progigy, but quickly faded out due to a lack of tournaments, books, human competition and training/mentoring needed to nurture talent.

I learnt the moves from a Britannica Encyclopedia (!), taught my classmates and siblings to play just so I could have opponents to play against :0( and won my first of two highschool tournaments without ever seeing/reading a chessbook, only later realizing that some “openings” which my friends and I had “invented” and were playing had all been previously well-documented in chess books. By the time I reached college, my interest had declined right down to only friendly blitz play at the chess club. Interestingly, I would later attend grad school in the U.S. and find that I was the strongest player at the university chess club!

Mr. Simutowe, I understand and can appreciate what you have achieved. The situation on many parts of the continent is not very favorable to make meaningful progress in chess. The top players in many sub-Saharan African countries find themselves playing against the same familiar hands through 5 years or more or playing against the same national masters every year. Very few new players that pose any serious threat emerge. Chess development at the grass roots is non-existent and most parents would prefer kids to do schoolwork than play chess because they see all board games only as entertainent for idle hands.

Again, congratulations Amon! Goodluck with hitting 2500.

3 Comments

Anonymous Reply

September 2, 2007 at 4:51 am

Well done Dr. Shabazz and Amon!
egaion Reply

September 2, 2007 at 11:03 am

I have just watched an incredible game by Simutowe ( how does one pronounce that?)
Simutowe,Amon – Crouch,Colin [E44 = QID with Ne2]
You can view it in chessbase site: http://www.chessbase.com/news/2007/games/simutowe02.htm
Anonymous Reply

September 2, 2007 at 2:42 pm

Weldone Amon! I am myself a sub-Saharan African who learnt the game on the continent, was considered somewhat of a local progigy, but quickly faded out due to a lack of tournaments, books, human competition and training/mentoring needed to nurture talent.

I learnt the moves from a Britannica Encyclopedia (!), taught my classmates and siblings to play just so I could have opponents to play against :0( and won my first of two highschool tournaments without ever seeing/reading a chessbook, only later realizing that some “openings” which my friends and I had “invented” and were playing had all been previously well-documented in chess books. By the time I reached college, my interest had declined right down to only friendly blitz play at the chess club. Interestingly, I would later attend grad school in the U.S. and find that I was the strongest player at the university chess club!

Mr. Simutowe, I understand and can appreciate what you have achieved. The situation on many parts of the continent is not very favorable to make meaningful progress in chess. The top players in many sub-Saharan African countries find themselves playing against the same familiar hands through 5 years or more or playing against the same national masters every year. Very few new players that pose any serious threat emerge. Chess development at the grass roots is non-existent and most parents would prefer kids to do schoolwork than play chess because they see all board games only as entertainent for idle hands.

Again, congratulations Amon! Goodluck with hitting 2500.

A marvelous feat by Amon Simutowe

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