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Kobese, Watu

Kobese, Watu

IM🇿🇦

FIDEFIDE 14300141· Male· South Africa· Born in 1973

Follow Watu KobeseTrack his monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.

Watu Kobese, a 53-year-old South African International Master, is rated 2237 and ranked 10th among South African players, and in the top 3% worldwide. He plays occasionally (9 games in the last 12 months) and had 2 career breaks: 20 months (2006–2008) and 28 months (2020–2022, COVID-19 included). Recent appearance: Cape Town Chess Federation Club League 2025 (A). His peak of 2419 was reached at age 32 (Jan 2005); he also reached South African #1 in Jan 2002 and spent 18 months as South African #1.

Awarded IM in 2001 (age 28).

Current rating

2237

Standard

Rpd2315·Blz2296

All-time high

2419

−182 pts below
Jan 2005 · age 32

Activity

24

games / yr avg. · ≈2/mo

9 past 12 mo · ≈1/mo
classical only
Moderately active

Signature stat

#10

#10 · South African players · of 1,804
18 months in #1 nationally (2002–2010)

Career timeline

19 entries
2024
1st South African 50-55 player
at age 51 · rated 2276
Jan 2024
2022
Re-crossed 2300
at age 49
Nov 2022
500 career games
at age 49
Sep 2022
2020
1st South African 45-50 player
at age 47 · rated 2324
Oct 2020
Inactive for 28 months
paused at 2324 → returned at 2311
Jan 2020
2017
1st South African 40-45 player
at age 44 · rated 2375
Mar 2017

Standard rating history

Peak
FIDE title
Threshold
First rated
Inactive period
COVID-19

Activity & highlights

Top opponent
vs Providence OatlhotseIM 2,258
Moja Chess Extravaganza 2026 (Prestige) · Apr 2026 · +5.3 Elo
Evolution
-19
2256 → 2237
Tournaments
2
9 games
Score
4/ 944.4%
3W2D4L

Last 12 months — tournaments

2 events
EventDateScoreRankPerfΔ Elo
Moja Chess Extravaganza 2026 (Prestige)
Open Swiss
Apr 20263/8#252054-21.4
Cape Town Chess Federation Club League 2025 (A)
Team
Jul 20251/1#1212755+1.5
Worst Elo result: Moja Chess Extravaganza 2026 (Prestige) (-21.4 Elo, finished #25).

Most-Played Opponents

vsCalvin John KlaasenFM
🇿🇦RSA·2171
+13 −7 =13
33 games·last met Apr 2025
View head-to-head →
vsCharles De VilliersFM
🇿🇦RSA·1989
+9 −1 =5
15 games·last met Jan 2024
View head-to-head →
vsDaniel CawderyIM
🇿🇦RSA·2312
+2 −1 =11
14 games·last met Mar 2024
View head-to-head →
vsShabir Hussain BhawoodienFM
🇿🇦RSA·2020
+8 −2 =3
13 games·last met Feb 2024
View head-to-head →
vsMohamed Ozayr BhawoodienFM
🇿🇦RSA·2178
+6 −1 =3
10 games·last met Apr 2025
View head-to-head →

Rankings

/
South Africa
#10
out of 1,876 players
Africa
#79
in continent
World
#6,357
out of 400,000+

National ranking

Europe & World

Europe
World
South Africa
1
🇿🇦Steel, Henry RobertFollow Henry Robert SteelTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,408
2
🇿🇦Karsten, JanFollow Jan KarstenTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,386
3
🇿🇦Cawdery, DanielFollow Daniel CawderyTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,312
4
🇿🇦Levitan, Caleb LeviFollow Caleb Levi LevitanTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,295
5
🇿🇦Felix, RaphaelFollow Raphael FelixTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,293
6
🇿🇦Bezuidenhout, RolandFollow Roland BezuidenhoutTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,284
7
🇿🇦Solomon, Kenneth TerenceFollow Kenneth Terence SolomonTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,277
8
🇿🇦Mhango, BaneleFollow Banele MhangoTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,268
9
🇿🇦Barrish, DanielFollow Daniel BarrishTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,245
102,237
Africa
1
🇪🇬Amin, BassemFollow Bassem AminTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,628
2
🇪🇬Adly, AhmedFollow Ahmed AdlyTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,581
3
🇲🇦Hamdouchi, HichamFollow Hicham HamdouchiTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,502
4
🇩🇿Bellahcene, BilelFollow Bilel BellahceneTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,493
5
🇪🇬Fawzy, AdhamFollow Adham FawzyTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,464
6
🇩🇿Arab, AdlaneFollow Adlane ArabTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,453
7
🇪🇬Shoker, SamyFollow Samy ShokerTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,443
8
🇲🇬Rakotomaharo, Fy AntenainaFollow Fy Antenaina RakotomaharoTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,437
9
🇩🇿Rizouk, AimenFollow Aimen RizoukTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,425
10
🇪🇬Labib, Ibrahim HasanFollow Ibrahim Hasan LabibTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,412
...
79🇿🇦Kobese, Watu2,237
World
1
🇳🇴Carlsen, MagnusFollow Magnus CarlsenTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,841
2
🇺🇸Nakamura, HikaruFollow Hikaru NakamuraTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,792
2
🇺🇸Caruana, FabianoFollow Fabiano CaruanaTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,792
4
🇺🇿Abdusattorov, NodirbekFollow Nodirbek AbdusattorovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,777
4
🇺🇿Sindarov, JavokhirFollow Javokhir SindarovTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,777
6
🇩🇪Keymer, VincentFollow Vincent KeymerTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,767
7
🇳🇱Giri, AnishFollow Anish GiriTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,764
8
🇮🇳Erigaisi ArjunFollow Erigaisi ArjunTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,761
9
🇺🇸So, WesleyFollow Wesley SoTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,753
9
🇨🇳Wei, YiFollow Yi WeiTrack their monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
2,753
...
6357🇿🇦Kobese, Watu2,237