Alexander van der Merwe, a Grade 8 learner at Paul Roos Gymnasium, participated in the 2019 Commonwealth Chess Championship in Delhi, India this month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the third time Alex had qualified for this prestigious event, although just the second time he participated in it. In 2018, he chose to play in the World Youth Chess Championship in Greece over the Commonwealth in India. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex qualified to represent Chessa (Chess South Africa) in the u-14 section as a result of his performance in the South African Junior Closed Championship in April 2019 (SA Junior Chess trails). However, he made the courageous move to play in the Open Section. This is the championship category, and does not have an age or rating restriction, so Alex was privileged to rub shoulders with seven grand masters participating in this international tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alex was ranked 81st in the tournament and ended in 70th position, gaining an astonishing 37,6, Fide (International Chess Federation) rating points. This remarkable achievement was due to his beating a WFM (woman Fide master), who had 400 more rating points than he had. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alexander also drew with female player Meenal Gupta, who won the silver medal last year and gold at the 2016 Commonwealth Championship. In the process, he represented Paul Roos and South Africa with honour in arguably one of the most difficult tournaments, with India known for its exceptional chess players. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alexander van der Merwe, a Grade 8 learner at Paul Roos Gymnasium, participated in the 2019 Commonwealth Chess Championship in Delhi, India this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":55648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"0f63cbd4-18f0-4616-98c7-9c31cf4c2b75","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"","article_feature_type":"","article_main_image_caption":"","article_media_icon":"","article_template":"","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7852],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-55646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-school"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/76ba3ec590ab4b7c9ca1254ce99e0bef.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56015,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/prg-chess-champs-2018-20180926-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":55646,"position":0},"title":"PRG Chess Champs 2018","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"1 October 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Paul Roos Chess Championship of 2018 was won by former Western Province Open Champion and World Amateur Champion of 2003, Dr Sabir Bhawoodien.","rel":"","context":"In "Schools"","block_context":{"text":"Schools","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/school\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56184,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/rhenish-learner-beats-grandmaster-20180131-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":55646,"position":1},"title":"Rhenish learner beats Grandmaster","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"5 February 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Alexander van der Merwe, a Grade 7 learner at Rhenish Primary, recently played in the South African Junior Chess Championships (SAJCC) in Johannesburg as part of the Western Province under-14A team.","rel":"","context":"In "Schools"","block_context":{"text":"Schools","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/school\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1e43efdf7db14f42bfe77027cfb3ac9e.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1e43efdf7db14f42bfe77027cfb3ac9e.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/1e43efdf7db14f42bfe77027cfb3ac9e.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":76458,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/school\/nationwide-online-chess-tournament-for-schools-register-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":55646,"position":2},"title":"Nationwide online chess tournament for schools: Register now","author":"Noordkaap Bulletin","date":"23 April 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2025 Alexforbes Battle Boards Chess Championship will include schools nationwide, promoting inclusivity, strategic thinking, and problem-solving.","rel":"","context":"In "Community"","block_context":{"text":"Community","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chess board and pieces, with players.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mesh-9iY3Sqr1UWY-uns_17905.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mesh-9iY3Sqr1UWY-uns_17905.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mesh-9iY3Sqr1UWY-uns_17905.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mesh-9iY3Sqr1UWY-uns_17905.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mesh-9iY3Sqr1UWY-uns_17905.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55615,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/prg-chess-masters-20190731-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":55646,"position":3},"title":"PRG chess masters","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"5 August 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On Saturday 27 July, the top chess schools in the Cape Winelands battled it out in Worcester, to be crowned top school in the Cape Winelands and advance to the Western Cape Schools finals. Both the u-15 and u-18 chess teams of Paul Roos emerged victo","rel":"","context":"In "Schools"","block_context":{"text":"Schools","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/school\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55897,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/local-chess-boffins-excel-at-nelson-mandela-rapid-2019-20190306-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":55646,"position":4},"title":"Local chess boffins excel at Nelson Mandela Rapid 2019","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"11 March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Fide Master Dante Beukes from Namibia won the fourth Nelson Mandela Rapid Chess Tournament on 2 March, held at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre, with 4,5 out of a possible 5 points.","rel":"","context":"In "Schools"","block_context":{"text":"Schools","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/school\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/016177662a0d41daa1de0e7cf9c2e573.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":265684,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/school\/junior-springboks-end-13-year-wait-with-thrilling-world-championship-victory\/","url_meta":{"origin":55646,"position":5},"title":"Junior Springboks end 13-year wait with thrilling World Championship victory","author":"Novus Media","date":"20 July 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Junior Springboks have broken a 13-year championship drought, defeating New Zealand 23-15 in a pulsating World Rugby U20 Championship final.","rel":"","context":"In "Schools"","block_context":{"text":"Schools","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/school\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Junior Springbok captain Riley Norton.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/riley-norton-junior-boks.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/riley-norton-junior-boks.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/riley-norton-junior-boks.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/riley-norton-junior-boks.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Eikestadnuus","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55646"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=55646"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=55646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}