Local chess players will now enhance their rankings as the annual Mdina Chess Tournament has been registered with the world chess body, Fide.
The tournament, whose dates and sponsorship package for the 2013 edition will be known at a press briefing at Sports Council in Blantyre today, was listed as a rated contest on October 23 bearing 88256 as the event code.
This means Malawi is the fourth country in the Sadc region to have a rated chess competition after Angola, South Africa and Zambia, whose events are registered as 16, 14 and 11, respectively.
Worldwide, there are 1 362 Fide-rated tournaments. France has the biggest number, 433.
“This is one of the small developmental activities that make big positive changes for the betterment of the mental sport,” Mdina Business Solutions managing director Tiwone Mdina said on Wednesday in a telephone interview from South Africa.
According to Chess Association of Malawi (Chessam) publicist Gilton Mkumbwa, certain requirements need to be fulfilled for a tournament to have its results approved and have the best players considered for international rankings.
Malawi has eight rated chess players who earned their rankings after participating in competitions such as last year’s World Chess Olympiad. Among them, 20-year-old Joseph Nyambalo is the highest rated with an individual rating of 2 115.
The other rated players are Chiletso Chipanga, Alfred Chimthere, Petros Mfune, Richard Mbedza, Dr Francis Banda, Paul Kuphwatheya and ladies’ national champion Linda Jambo.
Globally, 23-year-old Nowergian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is the most rated chess player on 2 870, followed by Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik and Armenian Levon Aronia, whose ratings are 2 796 and 2 795 respectively.
Mdina Chess Tournament started in 2010 and Kajani Kaunda was the inaugural champion.
