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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
TAKUDZWA Mushore and Paidaishe Zengeni were the two biggest winners at the 2023 Steward Bank Easter Open Chess Tournament that was held at Joina City in Harare during the Easter holiday.
Mushore won the Open section where 93 participants took part while Zengeni was crowned champion in the women’s division where she competed against 34 other female players. The tournament ran from April 7-10.
In nine rounds, the victorious Mushore proved to be a force to reckon with in front of the board after finishing with 8, 5 points.
From the nine games played, Mushore won eight and one ended as a draw on his way to victory. He was followed by Blessing Moyo who finished with 7,5 points after seven wins and one draw and in third place there was Farai Hamandishe with seven points.
The win was Mushore’s third in four years having won the 2019, 2021 editions of the Easter championships. His only draw came against Hamandishe.
A total of eight players from position four to 11 finished with the same number of points and were separated by a tie-breaker.
They all had 6, 5 points and Vitalis Mapuranga was in fourth place, followed by Tapiwa Jele, Elisha Chimbamu, Greenwell Chimyama, Spencer Masango, Tapiwa Chikwavaire, Michael Ngwerume and Kantalamba Mushota. Chimyama as well as Mushota are from Zambia and they all made the top 11 of the championship.
In the women’s section, Zengeni finished with seven points from nine rounds, tied with second and third-placed Linda Shaba and Colleta Wakuruwarewa.
The trio was separated by tie-breakers as well. In fourth place with six points there was Nomalungelo Mathe who was also tangled with five other players with the same points. Mathe was followed by Valentine Pasipanodya, Tatenda Zengeni, Rumbidzai Mawire and Edith Muyambiri.
The other two players who made the top 10 are Chilingwe Niza from Zambia and Nyarai Muponda who had 5, 5 and five points respectively.
Steward Bank supported the tournament with an initial sponsorship of ZWL$5 million to become the latest financial institution to partner with the Zimbabwe Chess Federation (ZCF) in its efforts to revive and promote the royal game of chess after CBZ and Cabs.
This was also the first major open over-the-board national chess event of the year. – @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter