National Sports

Sacrifice prevents Sanga from winning silver at Africa Chess

 

Junior chess player Yewo Sanga made a costly move in his last game at the Africa Schools Chess Championship in Lusaka, Zambia.

Due to the bold sacrifice of a bishop, the 10-year-old lost a chanceto win silver. He settled for a distant sixth position out of 11 contestants with five points in the nine-round under-11 boys’ category.

“Had he won his last game, he would have finished second, but budding Jungle Pepper Chess Championship genius made a grandmaster-fashion sacrifice that contributed to loss of attacking materials on the chessboard. He eventually lost the game to end on position six,” said Chess Association of Malawi (Chessam) spokesperson Makhosi Nyirenda.

According to Nyirenda, the lad wept bitterly after the loss, saying: “I was supposed to win this one!”

Before his last game, Sanga managed to beat one of the highest rated players at the event with black pieces in the eighth round.

The country’s other representative,  Kezzie Msukwa Jnr, finished 13th out of 16 after collecting 2.5 points in the under-nine category.

Chessam president Kezzie Msukwa has described the event as a success for Malawi and he promised to make the sending of junior players to international competitions a tradition.n

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