Team Zimbabwe leaves for chess tournament

THE Zimbabwe representative team will leave for South Africa on Friday where they will take part in the Africa Youth Chess Championships set Port Elizabeth from 21 August to 29 August.

Team Zimbabwe will comprise 45 athletes of both genders aged between eight and 18 from the National Association of Secondary Heads and National Association of Primary Heads coming from different provinces of Zimbabwe. In an interview on Friday, Zimbabwe Junior Chess Association chairperson Prosper Zoto appealed for similar trips saying most athletes failed to make the trip due to lack of funds.

“What is needed is sponsorship as some of our best players failed to raise the much needed funds to travel, I hope in future we will see more players making the trip,” said Zoto.

Those who excel at the Championships will represent the African continent at the World Youth Chess Championship scheduled for Batumi, Georgia in October this year. Zoto also said the main reason for the championships was to promote the game of chess at grassroots level as well as seeing participants travel to new places and interact with others from different parts of the world. Zimbabwe will appear for the third time at the Championships that has been running for the past three years. In last year’s event that was hosted in Lusaka, Zambia, the pair of Rufaro Chikaka and Tinashe Philemon finished in the top five in the Under-12 category.

In the Under-8 boys’ category, Sifiso Ncube claimed silver, and the Under-10 group saw Tapiwa Madaka and Rumbidzai Mawire miss titles on tie breaks. The team is expected back on 30 August.