Chessam’s partnership with Crossroads Hotel takes a step further

After enjoying a successful tournament in December courtesy of Crossroads Hotel which donated use of venue for the national competition last December, Chess Association of Malawi (Chessam) were once again facilitated that the national finals of the Presidential Initiative on Sports (PIS) also take place at this luxurious hospitality facility.

Malili making the declaration
Some of the parents who attended prize giving
Honoring a six-year-old, Joyful Chisinga
The proud winners

And Crossroads Hotel has extended their kind gesture by announcing that from now Chessam’s and its affiliates’ tournaments and activities can be hosted free of charge at both their hotels in Lilongwe and Blantyre.

This was disclosed by Crossroads’ Food and Beverages Manager John Malili during prize presentation of the PIS finals on Sunday after two days of the tournament whose atmosphere was such wonderful for the school children drawn from all three regional leagues — South, Central and the North.

Malili said Crossroads management is impressed with Chessam’s strong development programmes it has that is nurturing talent from the grassroots level and they have decided to be part of the success.

“This initiative to develop the sport from the grassroots level has inspired us and we pledge that from now on all your programmes can take place here in Lilongwe as well as our branch in Blantyre free of charge,” Malili said amid a huge round of applause.

When Chessam first dated Crossroads Hotels for support, it’s Director S. Sacranie had said Crossroads decided to be part and parcel of chess development in Malawi to develop strategic and creative thinkers.

He had pledged to consider more support for chess in the future and this was one of them, taking the PIS finals from its planned venue at Kamuzu Institute for Sports to the luxurious hotel.

The Chessam president thanked Crossroads Management for the kind gesture which will go a long way as the association is working hard to take chess to greater heights,” Chinthere said.

Chessam president Susan Namangale could hide her excitement at this news and described the partnership excellent, saying it has lifted a huge burden on their activities budget.

“This is great in as far as sports development is concerned. We don’t take this gesture for granted,” she said.

She applauded the young participants for their enthusiasm that saw excellent talent on display that saw Davis Ngwira as champion in Under 20 open category after accumulating 8.5 points from nine rounds of chess ahead of Praise Kalambo and Steven Songwe who scored 7.5 and 7 points respectively.

Tina Kumwenda clinched gold with 5 points for the Under 20 girls which saw Grace Chilekwa coming second after scooping 3 points and Lydia Sauzande on third with 2 points.

In the Under 16 boys category, Khwima Gondwe prevailed with 7.5 points, followed by Praise Salima on 7 points and Quincy Mukhwapa on 6.5 points.

In girls Under 16 category, Priyasha Shriyan and Annie Simwaba tied on 8 points but were separated by a head to head tie-breaker that saw Shriyan declared the winner. Sharon Kapende collected 7 points to secure the bronze medal.

In Under 12 boys section, Daniel Kondowe claimed 8 points, his runner-up Lucky Chisinga got 7 points while Sairam Seravanakumar finished on position three.

A triumvirate of players in Chifundo Chimthere, Rachael Jyloss and Rennee Kemajou tied on 8 points in the Under 12 girls category but they were separated after tie-break blitz games to became first, second and third respectively.

The winners walked away with various trophies, cash prizes, medals, and certificates.

Chessam also recognized the participation of youngest boy and girl at six years old — Joyful Chisinga and Kavya Ajmeri respectively.

Namangale applauded the parents for their encouragement that saw a record number of them gracing the tournament for both days in order to provide morale to their kids.

“Well done to you all, our focus is to produce a grandmaster and we cannot only do that by concentrating on grassroots level.

“I must say we are very proud with passion you have imparted on your kids for chess, which is also a tool for education as an analytical skills development.”

Representing sponsors Malawi National Council of Sports, Central Regional Sports Officer, Isaac Phiri hailed Chessam for promoting grassroots chess, which augurs well on Chessam’s strategic objective of creating a competitive future chess generation in the country.

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Eddie
Eddie
4 years ago

Good news

KHUMBO
KHUMBO
4 years ago

Much thanks Crossroads hotel

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