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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
THE date has been set for the start of the annual Bulawayo Chess Association (BCA) Championship which will be held at a venue yet to be announced as organisers are still working on it.
The prestigious event is set to run from 19 to 21 February, however, the venue and sponsorship are yet to be confirmed and will be communicated in due course.
The event will have two sections, an open section (both men and women) and a women’s section. Both sections will have 10 players each. The tournament will be structured in a round-robin format where all participants will face each other and the one with the most points will be crowned the winner in their respective sections.
The upcoming event is set to be the first one post Covid-19 restrictions which brought every sporting code to a standstill over the last two years. Last year, they held qualifiers for the event but could not proceed to the main event due to a lack of sponsorship.
BCA secretary general, Thaddeus Ndebele said such tournaments will help draw people closer to the sport and get the youth off the streets.
“The objective is to promote chess in the community, we aim to have as many people participating in chess as a sport as it will also help take the children off the streets,” said Ndebele.
Like many other sporting codes, Ndebele said they are hoping to have chess players make a living off the game like other international players who survive on the sport only.
Some of the events that BCA is also looking at hosting are the Easter Open tournament in April, Chess Mates Academy tournament between the end of February and early March, Women in Chess (Women Open) tournament in March and Africa Day Open.
The event comes after Zimbabwe Chess Federation (ZCF) hosted the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers in Harare which were won by Rodwell Makoto after an impressive five out of six points, winning four and drawing two games. He also took home US$800 courtesy of sponsors, CBZ Holdings.
Makoto will therefore go on to represent Zimbabwe at the World Cup. – @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter