Mustapha Othman, A Nigerian Chess star in the making

Mustapha Othman with GM Magnus carlsen


Who is Mustapha Othman? He recently caught my attention on “The chess player’s association of Nigeria fan page where he has been talking about his performance in chess tournaments, I did not take him serious until I saw some of his games and his commendable tournament performance, He recently finished on a perfect score 5/5 in Uxbridge (Congress) tournament FIDE- major category in the united Kingdom, indeed he is a rising star and a potential master of the kings game ! Here is the Interview Naijahood had with him.

Can you tell us about yourself?

I was born on 9th August 1984. Raised in Kaduna State, I spent all my childhood years and most of my life there. I attended Montosorri Nursery school in Zaria from 1987 to 1990. My family then moved from Zaria to central Kaduna where I began my Primary education in Grays International School from 1990 to 1996. For my entire junior and senior secondary education, I attended Zamani College Kaduna from 1996 to 2002. I then attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 2002 to 2008 where I studied B.Sc. Computer Science. I spent my N.Y.S.C. year in Federal Polytechnic Idah, Kogi State where I served as a lecturer in the Computer Science department from 2008 to 2009. After my N.Y.S.C, I couldn’t make employment so I decided to further my education with an I.T. Security course in Appin Knowledge Solutions based in Chennai, India. After the course, I gained admission into a Masters course in Multimedia Applications and Virtual Environments in University of Sussex, based in Brighton, U.K. I will hopefully graduate in February 2012.

Tell us a bit about your “Chess History”


I learnt how to play chess when I was about 12 years old. I watched my cousin play against his friend and explaining the rules to us while they played and that was it. Although at the time, I still had problems of “what square the King sits on”, “how to castle” and “en-passant”. While I was in Zamani College, I joined the board games club where we had a teacher that cleared our doubts on issues of where the King sits, how to capture en-passant and castling. It was also in Zamani College that I played my first chess competition. It was a knockout format with students representing their house in the end of term inter-house competition. It was also my first tournament win.
When I started school in A.B.U, I realized the game was far more complicated than I thought it was. The A.B.U chess club played a huge role in my improvement in chess. Every member had his unique style of play and developed on that style. This allowed us to learn from one another and broaden our knowledge of the game. We played A.B.U. Semester rating every semester to crown a new ‘A.B.U. no 1’. For all my struggles and how badly I wanted that title, I never got it. I however, finished 2nd on 3 occasions and 3rd most of the time. My worst position in the semester ratings was 4th. For the period of my stay, I qualified in every NUGA players selection playoffs in A.B.U. Unfortunately for me, I never made it to any NUGA tournament due to unforeseen circumstances I could not avoid.
In 2008, a friend hosted a tournament aimed at bringing together Zaria players and Kaduna (town) players. There were about 25 – 28 players. I finished 2nd in that one. Before the Kaduna sports festival 2008 started, there were a series of playoffs to select players to represent the State. I finished 2nd in the 3 playoffs I played. Once again, fate had it that I would not play in the Sports Festival as it was my N.Y.S.C year.

During my studies in India, I enrolled into a chess class lead by former Indian legend, I.M. Manuel Aaron. As I liked attacking a lot, I usually sacrificed pieces even if I was not sure of the outcome. He kept on advising me to avoid giving away pieces for free. According to him, you only do that when you are losing and you want to complicate things and make the game difficult for your opponent to win. I played 2 FIDE rated tournaments in India. The first was 2nd Manali FIDE rating and was a 10 round Swiss for under 2200 ELO. I obtained my rating (1627 ELO) in that tournament as I beat 5 rated players. I finished with 6 points in that tournament with some disheartening losses. The second tournament was King Anand First International FIDE rated tournament in Pondicherry. It was also a 10 round swiss restricted for under 2100 ELO. I once again finished with 6 points but with a better performance than the first, improving my rating to 1699.
In September 2010, I played in Brighton Congress (Major section) which was a 5 round FIDE rated tournament and restricted for under 2000 ELO. I won 3 games and drew 2. As a result, I tied up in 2nd place with 2 others, half point behind the winner, Jacob Sydney. In December the same year, I played in the historic London Chess Classic event (Open busy section). The Open busy was later joined with the Open section after round 5. There were 9 rounds in total. I finished with 4 points out of 9. Luckily for me, 3 losses which I sustained in the Open busy were not to be included in the rating calculations as the busy section was not FIDE rated. Only the main Open was. This saw me rise to 1755 ELO when added to my increase in Brighton Congress. However, this was not my main cause of excitement in that tournament. It was how close I came to present legends of the chess world. I mean “Imagine bumping into Magnus Carlsen on your way out of the toilet” or “having a chat with David Howell alongside his girlfriend” or “hearing Vladimir Kramnik’s giant voice right behind you”. London Classic was a real classic indeed.
During the new year period, from 28th December 2010 into 2011, I put up my worst tournament performance in London Christmas Open which was a 6 round swiss open for all players. I finished with 2.5 out of 6 and lost 4 points in my ELO rating. I however made a comeback in February when I played in Brighton International (Major Group G) which was a 10 round all play all (10 players round robin). With 1755 ELO, I was luckily the highest rated in my group. I won 8 rounds and drew 1 to finish half point ahead of 2nd place, Anna Charpidou who won 8 and only lost to me in the last round. The tournament gave me an increment of 39 ELO points. When added to the -4 , I previously got, I’ll settle at 1790 in the new March 2011 ratings.

Tell us about the most recent tournament?

Finally, my most recent tournament was the Uxbridge congress in March 2011. I played in the Major section which was a 5 round swiss. I finished with 5 points out of 5 with a staggering 2625 performance rating. Of course, I know I am nowhere near that rating and I still don’t know how performance ratings are calculated but it does feel good when you put up a good performance. As for my rating change, I did the calculations myself and I’m expecting an increment of 85 points. If I’m correct, then I’ll settle on 1875 ELO in the next rating calculations.

Which is your best tournament so far?

The Uxbridge tournament was no doubt my best tournament so far. Even though the rating performance might have been over exaggerated, I think I performed well above my current 1755 rating. In particular, my endgame (which was my main weakness) has drastically improved

How high do you want to go in chess? International master or perhaps Grand master?

It is every chess player’s dream to one day, become a grandmaster. I used to think it was impossible for me. But to be honest, now I’m not so sure. One thing I’m sure of however is that I’ll chase an I.M. title for as long as I live. And if I happen to obtain that, then I’ll decide whether or not it is worth it to further chase a G.M. title.

How do you prepare for Tournaments, Choice of openings and training?

I remember saying that it was necessary to get a perfect score in order to win the Uxbridge tourney. With over 60 participants, that seemed to be the only way. I usually study middle games and endgames as part of my preparations before any tournament. Openings I study few minutes before the game based on my opponent’s past games and choice of openings. If my opponent is a highly tactical player, I chose closed games. If on the other hand, he is more of a positional player, I tend to open up the game, sometimes even at the cost of a pawn. The main thing I try to do is not give my opponent the type of game he wants.
This strategy really helped me in round 4 of the Uxbridge tourney when I played Jacob Sydney, rated 1970. He is a very good positional player and very strong in the endgame. Furthermore, he adopts the French defense which usually gave me problems. Before the game I studied a few sharp lines in the French and used it against him. Surprisingly, the game that was supposed to be my toughest turned out to be the easiest. Jacob simply blundered in fear which ended the game in less than 25 moves

Which game did you find most difficult?

My toughest game in the Uxbridge tourney was round 3 against Ali Golam S. rated 1850. I didn’t know what type of player he was and assumed he was the positional type. My assumption was wrong as he immediately attacked the moment he got the chance. I defended for almost 2/3rd of the entire game. Something I’m usually poor at. This time however, I was able to absorb the pressure and later arrived at an endgame where I was a Bishop up. Even then, he tied my pieces down and kept on the pressure. The game was tough because he not only tested my defending skills but also my psychological and endgame strength. It was really difficult finding the winning move in what seemed like a puzzle in the endgame where a wrong move would have given him the victory. It was also after watching that long game that most of the players began to site me as a possible contender for the tournament top spot.

What did you learn from the tournament?

The most important thing I learnt in the Uxbridge tournament was the need to vary my openings and style of play. Having seen how Jacob Sydney collapsed due to lack of familiarizing himself with sharp tactics, I have decided I need to further balance my strength between sharp middle game play and good positional endgame play. I will also need to add more unusual openings to my arsenal. Unusual openings have performed wonders for me so far.

Do you intend coming for the wole soyinka chess classics in Nigeria in July ?
I will try my possible best to see that I attend the Wole Soyinka chess classics. There is no feeling like playing at home. Besides, I would love to test my progress on most of my chess friends in Nigeria. Some of which still believe I’m a fish.(Novice) I would like to officially prove to them I’m no more a fish (Novice) LOL!?

Do you have any other tournament in mind before then?

Before the Wole Soyinka chess classics, I’ll participate in Sunningdale Congress in may 2011 in the U.K. That will be the last tournament of a 3 tourney grand prix which I’m currently in the lead. I need 6 points out of the 7 rounds in order to guarantee myself the grand prix trophy.
Nice having you on Naijahood
Thank you very much!


What caught my attention was Mustapha Othmans Hunger for the game ,when he got to the University of sussex For his postgraduate degree and found out that there is no chess club on campus, he left a message akin to that of Optimus Prime in the movie “ the Tranformers” on a blog, it said and I quote

"I have a chessboard and a clock. If there are chess lovers like me out there pls let me know so we could form our own chess club. It's unfortunate that out of all the variety of activities that sussex sport offer, they have no provision for the 'game of life."

words of a passionate chess player willing to mingle I don’t see this “ Mustapha Othman “ as a chess Novice (Fish) but a player capable of becoming a FIDE master sooner than later though only if he can learnt from his Tournament experience, Horn and improve his skills as he meets more experienced players up the ladder, hoping to hit (the above)2000 ELO rating soon, indeed his chess story so far should motivate the Average Nigerian chess player. -GM Akinov