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Takudzwa Chitsiga
Sports Reporter
MORE than 200 top chess players from around the country are expected to battle for honours at the fourth edition of the Minerva Zimbabwe Open Chess Tournament that will be held from July 31 to August 4 at Joina City.
The US$7 260 purse tournament is sponsored by Minerva Risk Advisors.
Jemusse Zhemba and Kudzanai Charinda are the men’s and women’s defending champions, respectively.
Zimbabwe Chess Federation secretary general Todd Mapingire said all was set for the event, and they were expecting foreign players to grace the occasion.
“Preparations for the Zimbabwe Open are going well, the venue and prize money has been secured from our main sponsor, Minerva Risk Advisors.
“We are expecting big names in the sport of chess to grace the event and we are expecting all the players who are going to the Olympiad to take part as they prepare for the international tournament.
“So far we have a very good number of players who have already registered, and we are expecting a full house be-cause we have also been receiving inquiries from players from Botswana, South Africa, and Zambia.
“We expect competition to be much bigger than it was last year and we also call upon those who will be taking part to continue preparing and those who want to register should do so because very soon as the slots will be full.
“As ZCF, we are ready to host the event and all credit goes to our sponsor Minerva Risk Advisors for continuing to sup-port us.
“We are running into the fourth year now, despite the economic hardships, they continue to support us and we promise to uphold and promote their brand through the sport,.
Mapingire also confirmed that chief arbiter Simba Murimi will be in charge of one of the top chess tournaments in the country.
Last year, the tournament saw several foreign chess players taking part, including Malawian Joseph Mwale and Anzel Laubsche from South Africa.
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