{"id":48221,"date":"2023-06-29T14:20:30","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T14:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title"},"modified":"2023-06-29T14:31:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T14:31:03","slug":"personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title","title":{"rendered":"Personality of the week – Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maurice Kambukwe<\/b><\/p>\n

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Can you share your journey of how you got introduced to chess and what made you develop a passion for the game?<\/p>\n

I learned to play chess as an extra-mural activity at St George\u2019s School when I was seven years old. I believe Mr Williamson, the caretaker, taught me. I played my first tournament the following year and lost all my games. However, I would only say that I started to play chess when I was nine years old. I joined The Weekend Chess Academy (as it was known back then), which was run by Coach Max Nitzborn and that is really where my love for chess developed.<\/p>\n

What are your most memorable individual victories on the chess board?<\/p>\n

Many events stand out to me in my career. I consider my breakthrough to have come in 2021. I was already clearly number one in Namibia, but I had not competed seriously at a continental level. In 2021, I played in the Africa Online Individual Championship and I played some of my most creative chess in that event. At the end of the event, I struggled with network issues, which pretty much ended my tournament, but up till that point, I was competing for podium places. I also came joint first at an Invitation Tournament in Lusaka against the best players in Zambia. Zambia is one of the best chess countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, so to win a tournament there ahead of their top players was a great encouragement for me. I have had many other great successes in my career, such as being the joint first at South Africa Open, and seventh at Africa Individual Championship, but generally, I am hopeful that this is only the beginning and that my greatest successes are yet to come.<\/p>\n

How did your early life at The Weekend Chess Academy help shape your understanding and skills in the game?<\/p>\n

I was fortunate to find a good group of friends at the academy, who helped me develop as a young player. I am grateful to those guys because they were already in high school at that time, but they took me under their wings. I am still very good friends with most of them. The coaches at the academy also played a role in my development, especially Coach Max Nitzborn. I can confidently say that my time at the academy set the foundation for my chess career.<\/p>\n

Who influenced your game and style of play? How have they helped you in your chess journey?<\/p>\n

I would say my coaches and my friends have had the most impact on me. I already mentioned Nitzborn helped me when I just started in chess. My current coach has probably had the biggest impact on me. We have been working together for several years now. In terms of top players, I would not say that there is anyone who has had a marked impact on my chess style.<\/p>\n

You spoke about competing in Africa, how have you fared in the Africa Individual Chess Championship?<\/p>\n

This year, the African Championships was in May and I did not participate. However, I played in the 2022 edition and I came 7th.<\/p>\n

Can you share some insights into your training routine?<\/p>\n

I try to engage in chess daily. I am always following the latest tournaments. When I train seriously, I try to do a minimum of four hours a day. These days I mostly focus on openings and calculation training, but generally, I think it is good to have balance in your training. By that, I mean you can focus on one area of the game, but that does not mean you neglect other areas.<\/p>\n

How do you handle the pressure and expectations that come with being a remarkable talent in Namibian chess?<\/p>\n

I would say that it has become harder for me to handle the pressure, especially the pressure from within myself. When I was younger, I did not feel any pressure because I was still an upcoming player, but now that I have reached the level that I am at, I feel it more. It does not often bother me enough to have any effect on my performance, but now and then I struggle to deal with it all. This is why I think working with a sports psychologist can elevate my game. I do have a mini-ritual that I go through before games to get me to focus, and I think that confidence is also a big factor in overcoming pressure. I am not perfect in this regard, but I am working on it.<\/p>\n

What are your short-term and long-term goals in chess? My short-term goal is to improve my calculation skills and the psychological part of my game. I also hope to gain some ratings, but I do not have a specific timeline for this. My long-term goal is naturally to achieve the Grandmaster title. It will not be easy, but I believe that if I keep working, I can do it.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maurice Kambukwe Africa-Press – Namibia. Can you share your journey of how you got introduced to chess and what made you develop a passion for the game? I learned to play chess as an extra-mural activity at St George\u2019s School when I was seven years old. I believe Mr Williamson, the caretaker, taught me. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":48219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-48221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nPersonality of the week - Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can you share your journey of how you got introduced to chess and what made you develop a passion for the game? I learn ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Personality of the week - Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can you share your journey of how you got introduced to chess and what made you develop a passion for the game? I learn ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-29T14:20:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-29T14:31:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"459\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Personality of the week – Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-29T14:20:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-29T14:31:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title\"},\"wordCount\":857,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title\",\"name\":\"Personality of the week - Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title - Namibia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-29T14:20:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-29T14:31:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Can you share your journey of how you got introduced to chess and what made you develop a passion for the game? I learn ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":459,\"caption\":\"Personality of the week - Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Personality of the week – Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/\",\"name\":\"Namibia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Personality of the week - Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title - Namibia","description":"Can you share your journey of how you got introduced to chess and what made you develop a passion for the game? I learn ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Personality of the week - Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title","og_description":"Can you share your journey of how you got introduced to chess and what made you develop a passion for the game? I learn ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title","og_site_name":"Namibia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-06-29T14:20:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-29T14:31:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":459,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Personality of the week – Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title","datePublished":"2023-06-29T14:20:30+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-29T14:31:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title"},"wordCount":857,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg","keywords":["africa press","Africa Press-Namibia","namibia"],"articleSection":["all news","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title","name":"Personality of the week - Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title - Namibia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-29T14:20:30+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-29T14:31:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Can you share your journey of how you got introduced to chess and what made you develop a passion for the game? I learn ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/06\/sm_1688036398.083024.jpg","width":720,"height":459,"caption":"Personality of the week - Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/personality-of-the-week-chess-champion-strives-to-achieve-grandmaster-title#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Personality of the week – Chess champion strives to achieve grandmaster title"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/","name":"Namibia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}