Namangale pledges more support for youth chess
Chess Association of Malawi (Chessam) executive commiittte member, Susan Musa Namangale, has pledged to continue supporting the development of the game through assisting schools with chess equipment.
Namangale said this at Katoto Secondary School in Mzuzu at the end of the schools chess tournament. The S & S & Mhone Geniuses, which she has co-sponsored with renowned Malawian writer and newspaper columnist Stanley Onjezani Kenani and Member of Parliament for Nkhata Bay Central, Raphael Mhone at MK300,000.
Prizes offered to winners are chess boards and medals to inspire the kids to practise more amongst each other in preparation for such tournaments.
And in order to provide a larger platform, Namangale pledges to assist schools own equipment like the boards and clocks in the near future.
MP Mhone joined Namangale and Kenani after the first tournament sponsored by the two which was called S & S Geniuses held at St. Andrews International High School in the Southern Region of Malawi in February and following its success, the duo decided to take the tournament to the Northern Region, which has been deprived of competitions at grassroots level.
When he it was announced he was a co-sponsor, Mhone said what prompted him to come forward was recent chess achievements and he wanted to be associated with this game of strategy.
“I love sports in general and I sponsor football netball and athletics termly in my constituency,” Mhone, a lawyer by profession with Racane Associates, had said.
” I used to play chess whilst at Nkhata Bay Secondary School but I haven’t done so since then but I love the game for its critical thinking approach.”
Namangale said in Mzuzu on Sunday that their drive is the passion they have for chess and believes in its cumulative impact to the students when they play the game.
She said: “Chess is a mind game and research has shown that it improves the IQ greatly. I decided to particularly be present at the tournament to motivate the youth and provide assurance for the future of chess in Malawi.
“The youth are the leaders of tomorow and hence we need to invest in them in all aspects in whatever best way we can. I applaud Northern Region Chess League for the preparatory activities for this tournament,” she said.
Over 50 players took place in the tournament which drew players from schools within Mzuzu schools and was used to as qualifiers for the Presidential Initiative for Sports slated for end of May.
MP Mhone is chairman for CBR Tours and Travel which recently supported Chiletso Chipanga with an air ticket from Livingstone, Zambia where he had participated and won the gold medal at the Africa Amateur chess championship.
Namangale, who is Chess Association of Malawi (Chessam) executive member, partnered with CBR Tours and Travel’s Managing Director Lisungu Chirwa to fly in Chiletso from Livingstone, who had travelled there by road and was expected to do the same on his return.
Namangale and CBR Tours and Travel also sponsored a cocktail party for Chiletso and Yebo Sanga, who was voted as the Malawi Sports Young Athlete of the Year organised by Malawi National Council of Sports.
There is also another schools tournament called The Finesse in Southern Region, which is sponsored by Gilton Mkumbwa, an international chess arbiter who is also former publicity secretary for Chessam.
