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- South African Jesse February wins second African chess champion title
- South Africa’s only grandmaster is Kenny Solomon
- Africa has 16 grandmasters, mostly in North Africa
South Africa’s Jesse February is the African women’s chess champion, winning gold at the 2024 African Individual Chess Championship in Accra. This is her second title, having first won in 2021.
The 27-year-old from Gqeberha is SA’s top-ranking female player and has been a woman international master (WIM) since 2016. The next rung up is woman grandmaster (WGM). The only South African to achieve this is Melissa Greeff, who was 15 when she became a WGM in 2009.
Kenny Solomon is SA’s sole grandmaster and one of three in Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside Zambian Amon Simutowe and Senegal’s Felix Izeta Txabarri.
Although there are 1,800 active grandmasters, less than 1% of players achieve this status.
Russia leads with 179 grandmasters, followed by the US (104), Germany (99), Ukraine (82) and India (81). Africa has 16 grandmasters, most of whom live in North Africa. Egypt has six, Algeria and Tunisia three each, and Morocco one.
— 11 July, 2024Subscribe to the weekly newsletter for more charts like this
