Dante Beukes secures Kehat Beukes Legacy Chess title

International Master Dante Beukes won the Kehat Beukes Legacy Chess Tournament in Swakopmund after finishing on eight-and-a-half points out of nine, sealing the title with a final-round draw against Candidate Master Otto Nakapunda. Tournament director Charles Eichab said Beukes only dropped points in the final round. “It was the last round, and with that drawn result he won the tournament. He had eight-and-a-half out of nine,” Eichab said. Zambian Tuombe Maximillian finished second in the Open Section, followed by Ivan Boois in third. In the Women’s Section, Women’s Candidate Master Jamie-Nicole Beukes claimed first place ahead of Helvi Shuudifonya and Keisha van Wyk. Christiaan Cronje won the Cadet Section for under-12 players, with Francois Binneman second and Frederick Cronje third. The Youth Section was won by Yesuf Anthony, followed by Fidel Shekupe and Xavier Amutenya, while the Seniors category was led by Otto Nakapunda ahead of Roman Cyprion. Eichab said the 2025 edition ranked among the strongest competitions in the tournament’s history. “The tournament was a huge success. We are happy with it. It was one of the better editions of the tournament. I will not crown it the best, but it is very near the best we’ve seen,” he said. A total of 64 players registered, and Eichab said the event ran smoothly from an organisational perspective. “There were very few appeals. We had only one appeal, and it was successfully handled. So on the organisational side, it went very well,” he said. One of the main highlights was the large number of young participants, he said. “This year we had a very high number of players who were 12 years or younger, including the Africa Under-9 champion, the boy who won in Kenya, Federer Kronier,” Eichab said. Proud legacy The tournament was founded in 1994 by the late Dr Kehat Beukes, Namibia’s first black specialist physician, during his tenure as president of the Namibian Chess Federation. Beukes organised the event for five years until his death in 1999 following surgery for a brain tumour. In 2006, the event was officially renamed in his honour. “It’s the longest-running chess tournament in Namibia,” Eichab said. The event continues to play an important developmental role by attracting new players, junior competitors and strong players from the region and abroad. “You can start to see a new player for the first time added to the chess family,” he said. Eichab added that the holiday-period format makes the tournament accessible to a wider group of players. “It’s a very light tournament aimed at the holiday. Players can go to the beach and enjoy the holiday while having a tournament,” he said. Organisers intend to expand the tournament further in future editions. “The next thing for this tournament is to make it bigger and bigger each year, to give better prizes, to get more people involved,” Eichab said.