Mixed fortunes for Malawi chess team
Malawi ace at the Africa Individual Chess Championship Fide master (FM) Joseph Mwale, was brought to earth in Round seven after losing to Egyptian grandmaster (GM) Adyl Ahmed.
Mwale had brought about excitement and great expectations after he beat highly rated Algerian GM Bilel Bellahcene on Tuesday.
But all was not lost for local players as candidate master (CM) Chiletso Chipanga rose to the occasion to beat Zambian international master (IM) Andrew Kayonde.
It was a great win for Chipanga since IM is a level below grandmaster (GM) but above CM.
Chipanga is on position seven with five points with two rounds to go.
Commenting on his feat, Chipanga said he wants to show the African continent that Malawi has talented chess players.
“I want to show that our ratings or titles are below just because we participate in few high profile chess events. If we can be exposed to more rated tournaments, we can easily catch the continental leading pack,” said Chipanga.
In the ladies section, Malawians Tupokiwe Msukwa, Priyasha Shriyan and Lakshita Dutt have attained woman candidate master (WCM) title after seven rounds.
Priyasha also in contention for Women Fide Master (WFM) title honours too.
She is playing on board one today against Algerian Women International Master (WIM) Lina Nassr.
Chess Association of Malawi president Susan Namangale was happy with the proceedings .
“It is great what our players are doing. It’s beyond our expectations considering the best of Africa is here.
“Like I said before we will give it our best. I am swelling with pride,” she said.
Malawi is hosting the Africa Individual Chess Championship in Lilongwe.
The competition has attracted 136 players.
