Kennedy Katowa wins Zimbabwe Chess Championship
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012Hi everyone,
Some more chess tournament news from Africa. Top Zambian chess player Kennedy Katowa beat defending champion Robert Gwaze to win the Zimbabwe Open Chess Championship title with eight points after 11 rounds. International master Gwaze, who was the defending champion in the tournament, had to settle for second place on 7,5 points where he was tied with Emerald Mushore, Rodwell Mukoto, Judah Simulundu, Mwali Chitumbo and Thomas Zulu. Colleta Wakuruwarehwa was the best woman chess player in the tournament.
The Zimbabwe Open Chess Championship is the country’s flagship tournament and has been hosted annually since 1961. They allow players from Zambia.
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Labels: africa, chess news, kennedy katowa, robert gwaze, zimbabwe chess championship
Chess great Kasparov takes game to kids in Africa
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
Chess great Garry Kasparov watches Grade 6 pupils at the Zamintuthuko Primary School in Mamelodi make their moves with the educational project Moves for Life. Photo: Thobile Mathonsi.
We found this nice article on chess great Garry Kasparov's visit to South Africa. The chess legend visited Zamintuthuko Primary School in Mamelodi and Hoërskool Waterkloof as part of his partnership with a Pretoria-based chess educational project, Moves For Life (MFL).
Kasparov’s visit to the country is to link his Kasparov Chess Foundation to MFL to extend the successful MFL formula to other African countries. MFL was launched nationwide last year and has expanded to over 50 schools across the country.
Principal Matome Ramokhufi said the pupils had already shown improvements in their level of concentration in class. “The project also assists in the pupils’ level of critical thinking as chess helps them to think outside the box. “We are already seeing improvements in their work in maths and science.”
Ramokhufi said before the project was implemented at the school, teachers had realised that pupils did not always follow the rules and steps of problem solving in maths and science.
May all the kids of the world learn chess - that's our fond wish. If your school or local club is running a chess programme, do share your activities with Chess Blog.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Labels: africa, Chess, chess and children, gary kasparov, Kasparov Chess Foundation, Moves for Life
Chess achievement for Botswana - Mudongo is their latest WIM
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hi everyone,
It is heartening to note that Botswana has got their latest WIM. Botswana’s woman chess player Boikhutso Mudongo is now Women International Master. This follows confirmation from FIDE after her outstanding performance at the Zone 4.3 championships held in Gaborone in April 2011. We got the news via www.chessdrum.com - A site dedicated to all aspects of Pan-African chess.
It's not every day that you hear about chess achievements from Africa but great that lots of chess talent is coming from there too now.
In a highly contested tournament, Mudongo finished comfortably on position 2 with 7.5 points out of 9. Her outstanding performance on the day was halted by a loss to South Africa’s Sischy Monique Sianin round 4.’ It was a highly tactical game that could have gone either way’ says Mudongo when quizzed about a loss that deprived her the championship for the tournament. Mudongo who has represented Botswana at the Olympiad since 1998 is steadily establishing herself as a formidable women player in the region. She recently increased her silverware when she trounced her opponents to win the silver medal at the just ended All Africa games in Mozambique.
‘Chess is a part of me, it’s my passion and I have always known that with the right commitment and hardwork, I will achieve greater things’ quips Botswana’s Olympiad bronze medalist.
Boikhutso Mudongo’s achievement adds on the number of titled players in Botswana following on the greatest achievement by Women GrandmasterTuduetso Sabure.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Labels: africa, Boikhutso Mudongo, Chess, chess news
CHESS COACH NEEDED 4 AFRICA!!!
A few days ago I received an email from Mr. Nizar Elhaj, vice-president of FIDE. He wrote that a few countries in Africa are looking for a good trainer that will agree to train the women's chess teams of these countries (max. rating of the players is 2200) for one year, traveling from country to country every 10 weeks to 3 months. So if you have any training experience and do want to go to Africa in order to help women's chess in Africa and to train African women's teams, you can write an email to Mr. Nizar Elhaj with your resume, training experience and your conditions.
Posted by: Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women's World Chess Champion
www.chessblog.com
Labels: africa
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