Amon Simutowe gets third GM norm

[Javier]

(Image based on a photograph by Betsy Dynako)

Quoting the Wikipedia: Amon Simutowe (born January 6, 1982) is an International Master from Zambia. His 2421 ELO rating makes him the Zambian #1. He achieved his third Grandmaster norm in August of 2007, being the first sub-Saharan African to do so. He will likely become the first black grandmaster from the sub-Hahara. Simutowe is a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas which he attended on a chess scholarship.

Unfortunately, there's a tendency amongst chess players to cellebrate titles before all the requirements are met. I understand that often it is hard to resist the temptation to do so, particularly when a title can be so meaningful to a whole continent, but in my opinion this doesn't help the player to achieve his goal, on the contrary, it adds more pressure on him.
Amon still needs to push his rating to 2500 in order to get his title though. I've checked FIDE's site and this is what his rating graph looks like:



The difficulty of this task is explained by the fact that Amon's rating has never reached 2500, the closest he's ever been is 2470 and at present is 2421 and 2470 was 6 years ago.

I wish Amon all the best, and getting his title would be fantastic news for African Chess. But let's not belittle the remaining task...

I've searched some of Simutowe's old games. Take a look at his 17th move in this game to give you an idea of his talent:

Rahls,P (2308) - Simutowe,A (2462) [b22]
Bad Woerishofen op 17th Bad Woerishofen (5), 2001