Sports
Victoria Falls’ young chess duo shines at major tournament
BY NOTHANDO DUBE
Victoria Falls chess sensation Andile Cornelius Mpofu continues to shine after managing another second place finish at a major event inside a month.
The seven year-old Mpofu, who last month came second at the Olympiad Chess Tournament held in in Harare, achieved the same feat when he took part at the Candidates Chess Tournament hosted by Bulawayo recently.
Emmanuel Zivambiso, another seven year-old from Victoria Falls, also came third in the under eight category.
Mpofu and Zivambiso are learners at Jacaranda Montessori and are part of the Ally Chess Academy, which is based in the city.
For Zivambiso, it was a first top finish at a major tournament.
The two young players and their coach responded to an invitation for the CABS Candidates Chess Tournament held at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust), which began on Sunday for the primary section.
Round one pairing was announced and Mpofu sat on the black side against Thamsanqa Moyo (14) from Bulawayo where fear intimidated him into a quick loss, according to his coach Alpha Mathe.
Zivambiso played white against Lyla Khumalo (14) also from Bulawayo, but made a great opening and ran for the checkmate early.
He went to record a win in the first round.
The round two pairings saw Mpofu sitting again against a Harare seniors champion aged 13 and he lost again.
“At this point I was also getting disturbed and Andile was upset,” Mathe said.
Zivambiso recorded another victory against a member of the Bulawayo team.
After round four, he had recorded two wins and two losses.
In the next round, Mpofu was paired with Emmanuella Maphosa from Harare where he walked away with a win, gaining momentum which saw him again winning against another competitor from Harare in round four.
In the fifth round, he was paired with Kwekwe’s best player in a game that seemed intense, but he pulled some great moves.
“Andile played while standing throughout the game and he played faster than his opponent,” Mathe said.
“He sealed his win by trading a queen for a checkmate, which was a huge surprise to me.”
In the end, he walked out of the tournament with five wins out of the seven rounds played.
“Teamwork was the key factor for the victory of the two young boys.
“They pulled a great teamwork together, analysing opponent games in between rounds,” Mathe said.
“Between the rounds, they would get a board and analyse their opponents’ games and that made it easy for Emmanuel to win against players, who had played Andile because they would analyse the opponents’ tactics before building.
“Initially, I tried to lodge a complaint concerning the pairing, which was not successful, but after the victory, I concluded that age does not matter, but exposure does.”
The tournament was Zivambiso’s second after he had previously played at the UMdala Wethu Memorial Chess event hosted by Hwange’s Thomas Coulter School where he attained an eighth place finish in the under nine section.
For Mathe, the goal is to participate even in international events.
Mpofu and Zivambiso are preparing for the forthcoming Mutare Grand Prix Chess tournament and they are appealing for resources to cover their travel and accommodation expenses.
BY NOTHANDO DUBE
It was a colorful and action-packed day at Mkoba Teachers college as Zimbabwe Open University held its Sports Gala on weekend, bringing together students from its ten regional campuses across the country.
A total of 130 students from all regional campuses participated in a variety of sporting activities.
The list of games included athletics, soccer, netball, volleyball, days, javelin and high jump.
Zimbabwe Open University is an Open and distance and e-learning (OdeL) institution that has ten regional campuses and one virtual campus totaling to 11 campuses.
Most of the learning is done online and events like these give students a platform to share the experience and environment enjoyed by their counterparts from conventional tertiary institutions.
A total of 13 students from each region represented their regional campuses across the sporting areas outlined.
The wellness and interaction event was attended and graced by The Dean of Students, Thandiwe Chivasa together with staff from the national Centre and 10 Student advisors from the ten regional campuses.
Volleyball and athletics drew much excitement from all teams as regions cheered for their teams.
The winning teams walked away with medals and trophies for excelling.
The event was a resounding success after a long six years break from such games by the institution.
Students living with disabilities were part of the fun and excitement throughout the day.
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