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Matabeleland North holds chess championships
BY NOTHANDO DUBE
The Zimbabwe Chess Federation (ZCF) held its Matabeleland North championships over the weekend, which saw 145 primary and secondary schools taking part.
Held at Victoria Falls’ St Josephine Bakita School, the competition saw players being classified under three categories, namely the nine years and below, 10 to 14 years, in primary school and the open section which comprised secondary students and adults.
The tournament started at 09:30AM, with the over nine players paired first by Sevilla application and the speed of play was 25 minutes per player and the championship in the category was won by Duncan Mahala from Chinotimba Primary School, who walked away with a prize money of US$20.
In the under nine category, Cayline Ndlovu an eight-year-old female player from the host school also took home the same amount as Mahala while the open section was scoped by Andile Ngwenya, who also walked away with a prize money of US$ 30 and a branded T shirt from ZCF Matabeleland North.
Ngwenya broke a record by beating the defending champion, Kripo Chivhenge who has been reigning since 2017 and Tadisa Mutero won the best scholar category.
The sport has been growing since its introduction in the province in 2017 although other districts like Nkayi, Lupane, Binga, Umguza, Bubi and Tsholotsho have not participated citing resource constraints.
The province got its chess equipment donation in 2019 from Project Chess Zimbabwe, which donated 150 chess sets and 20 clocks for use in training.
Clive Mphambela and Kripo Chivhenge spearheaded the project to introduce chess in schools with sponsorship from Chris Flowers and Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa with an aim to promote chess among young people.
Chivhenge, who is ZCF chairman, said plans were in place to spread the game to other districts.
“Distance is the barrier. Our province has districts that are far apart unlike other provinces like Bulawayo.
“So, we hope that in future, as the economy stabilises, we will be having all districts attending tourneys,” Chivhenge said.
“Chess comes with a lot of benefits as it improves the learners’ thinking and calculation.
“They become analytic even in real life situations, discipline on and off the board.
“Most of our players are geniuses in Maths and we encourage heads of schools to adopt the game.”
Fide arbiter-elect at the tournament Mqondisi Ndlovu said it had demonstrated that there was a lot of talent in the province and players had a clear understanding of the rules of the game.
“We have a lot of upcoming talent and if nurtured well, at secondary level, we can produce an international master and fide master from this region,” Ndlovu said.
He said what fascinated him the most was the players’ understanding of chess rules, especially in the use of clocks.
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