Fide Master Mwale Shines at National Chess Championships
CHESSAM awarded cash prizes and chess sets from the Gift of Chess to the top 10 finishers in the open category and the top 7 in the women's category.
LILONGWE, Malawi— Fide Master Joseph Mwale emerged as the champion of the 2024 National Chess Championships after amassing 7 points in the 9-round Swiss tournament held from March 29-31 at the Bingu International Convention Center (BICC) in Lilongwe, writes Happy Valirani.
The competition, organized by the Chess Association of Malawi (CHESSAM), aimed to identify national chess champions in both the open and women's categories, as well as select players for the Malawian team to represent the country at the upcoming 45th FIDE World Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary.
In the open category, FM Mwale received a cash prize of K800,000, modern headsets from M1 electronics, a chess set from the Gift of Chess, and a trophy. CM Alfred Chimthere finished second with 6.5 points, tied with CM Petros Mfune, who placed third.
Precious Kamwendo and George Mwale secured fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
"I'm glad to have won the National Chess Championship for the 8th time, and I would like to assure Malawians that we are a good team that will make Malawi proud by bringing the medals from FIDE World Chess Olympiad," FM Mwale told AfricaBrief.
"I would also like to thank the CHESSAM management for always organizing these tournaments to keep us, the chess players, in shape as far as the game of chess is concerned."
In the women's category, Caroline Trapence emerged victorious with 7 points from 9 rounds, drawing two games and losing one.
Trapence received a cash prize of K400,000, modern headsets from M1 electronics, and a chess set from the Gift of Chess.
Susan Namangale finished second with 6 points, while WFM Linda Jambo, Tupokiwe Msukwa, and Annie Simwaba completed the top 5.
CHESSAM awarded cash prizes and chess sets from the Gift of Chess to the top 10 finishers in the open category and the top 7 in the women's category.
Isaac Katopola, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, who was the guest of honor at the tournament, assured the ministry's continued support for CHESSAM and urged the corporate world to support the association as they prepare for the Olympiad showpiece in Hungary later this year.