Malawi U-16 chess team leave for Zone 4.5 tourney in Lesotho
A team of five players, three boys and two girls, have flown out for Maseru, Lesotho to represent Malawi at the Zone 4.5 Under-16 Championship.
The boys are Khwima Gondwe, Praise Salima (from Chichiri Secondary School) and Quincy Mukhwapa from Blantyre Baptist Secondary School and the two girls are Shalom Kapende and Clara Mtumbuka from Kamuzu Barracks and Lilongwe Demonstration schools respectively.
They are led by Chess Association of Malawi (CHESSAM) National Schools Coordinator, Magret Ngugama, for the tournament that runs from November 23-30.
The players were selected based on their outstanding performance at the Presidential Initiative on Sports (PIS) chess tournament which was held in May this year at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe.
Each federation is expected to feature a team comprising three boys and two girls.
According to publicity secretary, Alfred Chinthere, CHESSAM was ready to host this tournament this year but pulled out due to financial constraints and advice from Africa Chess Confederation.
CHESSAM has a deliberate policy to expose the school youths to international chess tournaments, which is one of its strategic direction in the next 5 years.
Meanwhile, CHESSAM president Susan Namangale says she is very appreciative of Platinum Hotel Suite at Area 12 in Lilongwe, which offered to accommodate the team for free on Thursday, on the eve of their departure through Kamuzu International Airport.
CHESSAM has developed an excellent rapport with various wellwishers, including Crossroads Hotel, who offered to host for free the Presidential Initiative on Sports chess tournament held in May, which helped identify the traveling team.
