Evergreen Candidate Master George Mwale emerged champion of Malawi Open Chess Championship that took place at Lingadzi Inn Hotel in Lilongwe from 9th to 12th June, 2022.
Mwale, who is is Malawi’s 6th highest rated player, tied at the summit of the event at 7 points out of 9 with Zambian Godfrey Luanja, but the Bucholozz tie breaking system favored Mwale. Mwale won MK300, 000 plus a trophy, while Luanja won MK200, 000 plus a silver medal.
Tournament’s top seed Zambian William Mwape finished third with 6.5 points. He got MK100, 000 and a bronze medal.
Tied at 6 points, Precious Kamwendo and Malawi’s highest rated player FM Joseph Mwale, brother to champion George , finished on 4th and 5th positions respectively. The 2 were also separated by the Bucholozz tie breaking system. They were handed MK75, 000 and MK50, 000 respectively.
Desiderata Nkhoma, who recently took a break from international tournaments, won the ladies section with 5.5 points out of 7, while Patel Aaliya was second with 5 points. They got MK120, 000 and MK100, 000 respectively.
Chess Association of Malawi President Susan Namangale was third also with 5 points. The 2 were also separated by the Bucholozz tie breaking system. She got MK75,000.
Ellen Mpinganjiira and Tupokiwe Msukwa finished the picture on positions 4 and 5 with 4 and 3.5 points respectively. They got MK50, 000 each.
Gracious Maseya won the youth section with 8.5 points, Alain Namangale was second with 8 point. The champion received K100, 000 and a trophy while his runner up got a chess clock and a silver medal.
Titus Saka was third with also 6.5 points. He got a one-month internet bundle.
Moses Katande was 4th with 5.5 points , and Yamikani Misheck was 5th with 5 points. They got chessboards.
In the veterans section Steve Khota dominated with a maximum 5 points, while former Chess Association of Malawi president, Kezzie Msukwa was second with 5 points
Malawi’s celebrated chess teacher, Joseph Chalemba was third with 5 points.
They got 3 months DSTV subscription plus gold medal , 1 month DSTV Subscription plus silver medal , and electricity units plus bronze medal respectively .
Youngest players of the tournament, 6 year olds, Kezzia Chipofya and Alipo Namagale also received prizes.
The guest of honour of the event, Director in the Ministry of Sports James Ndalama commended Chessam for a well-organized tournament and for promoting the game from the grassroots.
The Malawi Open Chess tournament was funded by a grant of USD 2000 from the World Chess governing body (Fide).
