Malawian wins silver at Africa Amateur Chess
Malawian chess player Fiskani Mwagomba on Sunday won a silver medal at the Africa Amateur Chess Championship in Namibia.
He amassed 6.5 points in the nine-round contest, just a point behind eventual gold medallist Zambian Joster Kandangwe. The host nation’s Immanuel Garriseb settled for bronze.
Chess Association of Malawi (Chessam) president Susan Namangale applauded Mwagomba for the feat in the under 2 000 rating category.
“It’s a great achievement considering that we used our [Chessam] resources to send four players, who travelled to the tournament by bus,” she said.
Namangale said for his feat, Mwagomba has also qualified for World Amateur Chess tournament to be held in Mexico in June.
However, the going proved tough for Candidate Master (CM) Chiletso Chipanga, who grabbed gold in the same category last year to become the country’s only chess player to win a continental championship, as he settled for an unimpressive 14th position in the tougher Under 2 300 rating category.
“Chipanga won a gold medal in last year’s competition but faced tough opposition in the latest edition as he competed in a higher category,” the Chessam president said.
Botswana-based medical doctor Francis Banda took position 18 in the Under 2 000 section with 3.5 points while female player Ellen Mpinganjira finished 13 in Under 1 700 category.
