“The Battle of the Ages” kicked off on June 11th, pitting global ambassador Tunde Onakoya against Nigerian phenom Deborah Quickpen. The atmosphere was electric, and the venue was splendid, with many dignitaries attending the intergenerational match. The Daniel Ford Foundation sponsored the match, which took place in Lagos.
The Initiatives
Four years ago, social media buzzed about a Nigerian initiative to produce the first Grandmaster. The Nigerian Chess Federation has always had the talent to see a breakthrough, but perhaps the support was not there. Now, the idea of the first Grandmaster has been revisited with the rise of Quickpen. Let it be known that we are referring to the International Grandmaster title, not the Women’s Grandmaster.
One has to credit the Nigerian community for putting into motion a support system that will hopefully reap benefits not only for Onakoya and Quickpen but also for future generations of chess players in Nigeria. Africa’s most populous nation is known more for football, and the Super Eagles have the hearts of the nation. However, the talented and charismatic Deborah Quickpen may have just stolen the hearts of the Nigerians.
Tunde Onakoya has been in the media since beginning the “Chess in Slums” initiative in 2018. He is a master-level player but is known more for his community work, which has gradually taken on global significance. While many pay attention to top players playing each other hundreds of times, other stories are touching and have a social impact. This match is poised to put into motion a breakthrough on the African continent at a time when the World Championship crown has been devalued.
Photos by Babatunde Ogunsiku
The Match
Rapid
The match was four game of rapid and four games of blitz. Tunde seemed to get the better of Quickpen in the longer format. The young prodigy often had problems establishing her rhythm in the opening. In the first game was an English opening that resulted in Quickpen winning a clear pawn in the opening. However, she made a gross oversight that caused her to lose a rook and eventually the game. The second game was a mainline Caro Kann that saw Tunde get an overwhelming advantage, but while going for checkmate, he gave up an own-goal and got checkmated himself. It was a thrilling comeback!
After the first two games, there was an intermission and address by Yemi Edun, Managing Director of Daniel Ford International. He pledged a five-year committment in sponsorship for Quickpen and announced others who will join in. He mentioned the budget to be around 80-100 million naira per year ($50,000-$60,000) for her training and travel expenses. This investment to develop this talent is a wonderful start in providing a path for her success. With her talent and charisma, “Debby Quick” will certainly become a name we should watch.
“I am confident that this event will be a resounding success and contribute significantly to the growth of Chess in Nigeria and the support of Chess in Slums.”
~Mr. Yemi Edun, CEO, Daniel Ford International UK
The atmosphere was brimming with so much excitement that the result of the match would appear as less of a focus. Of course with the match tied 1-1, and all of those in attendance wanted to see what was to come.
In the third game was another English and Tunde essayed what appeared to be London System setup with black. This gave white no problems with maintaining an edge in the middlegame. However, Quickpen started to stray with a strange manuever of 18.Rfh1 and 19.Kg1. Tunde played dynamically sacrificing an exchange for a pawn. After securing the two bishops, he then mobilized in the center with 31…d4! and now the strange maneuver would haunt the young talent. Tunde would get a devastating attack after 34…e3 and checkmated Quickpen.
In the last rapid game, it was an interesting Advanced French. Tunde sacrificed a pawn early and seemed to get some compensation in terms of space. The pressure mounted after 21.Rc7. In this position, black is positionally busted. In the position below, Tunde missed a nice win.
After 21.Rc7 b5 22.g3 h5, Tunde immediately played 23.Qe2, but could’ve ended the game right away with 23.Qxg6! Tunde seemed to be expecting h5 and may have though that black had 23…Qxc7. However, white responds with 24.Qg5! would force black to defend mate on e7 with the queen and allow 25.Qxg7 netting a piece. It may be hard to work this out in time pressure. Nevertheless, the battle continued and black seemed to have weathered the storm with three extra pawns. Unfortunately, an oversight after 33…Qc7?? gave white a fierce attack after 34.Ra8+ Quickpen was unable to withstand and had to resign.
Rapid: Onakoya 3-1 Quickpen
Blitz
After a brief break, the two players settled in their chairs and the first game was another English. Now these games with be 3+2 and would favor the faster player. In general, younger players tend to have better reflexes and nerves for blitz. So the audience was anticipating that Quickpen would close the gap.
Tunde got a comfortable position out of the opening and even won a pawn, but white gained some time by harassing the black queen. By the middlegame, white had developed and dominating position. However, as we would often have blunders in blitz, Quickpen played Re1?? Tunde missed taking the rook with mate to follow. Nevertheless, Tunde had earlier won a piece and would win the game.
In game two, Tunde trotted out the Smith-Morra Gambit. Quickpen played Ne8 which is seen for black, in some lines. This game totally exploded and in a winning ending Tunde lost on time. The third game was a Grunfeld where black did not get the dynamic queenside play. In fact, black was never able to equalize and Quickpen bored into the black camp. Tunde had to resign without his pieces fully developed and the rook stayed on a8 the entire game.
The last game was a Caro Kann mainline. In the heat of the battle and needing only a draw to win the match, Tune may have overpressed and ended up tossing a piece. After that mistake, Quickpen was ruthless and developed a blistering attack on the queenside.
In this winning position, Quickpen finished off neatly with 1…Qxa2+! Tunde resigned since 2.Kxa2 Ra6+ and mate next move.
Blitz: Quickpen 3-1 Onakoya
Match Score: Quickpen 4-4 Onakoya
Impressions
It was a wonderful event… professional, well-organized and great atmosphere. One could feel the excitement and positivity in the air.
In the match, there were a couple things to note. Tunde seemed to have a better feeling for his openings. Perhaps it was his record-breaking 60-hour session gave him lots of practice. However, he was a bit slower and less decisive in the blitz portion. Both suffered glaring tactical oversights and you can expect to have some of those in quick formats. Both also had trouble finding the strongest resistance in bad positions and simply collapsed when under pressure.
Perhaps one of the things that sticks out is Quickpen’s penchant for playing the English. Given how she played, it seems to be in contrast to her more aggressive style. In her English games, she struggled to get a lasting advantage as the opening is more positional in nature. She allowed easy equality in these openings and seemed to get lost sometimes like in the third rapid game where she played Rf1-h1 and Kh2-g1 on consecutive moves. She was brutally punished.
In her black games she played the Sicilian, the the French and the Caro Kann. All are very different openings. Is it more of a trend for young players to be universal and play every opening? Magnus Carlsen has begun this trend and the age of computers causes one not to be too predictable. Hopefully, her coaches will assess which of these suits her style of play before she travel to Georgia for the World Youth.
It is very difficult to gauge Quickpen’s talents in this short format, but in the African Individuals, she certainly showed she was a force to be reackoned with. She may very well be the player to beat in next year’s competition.
