tawandamusarurwa
Online Reporter
After achieving success on the playing board and luring sponsors in 2022, a new era beckons for the Zimbabwe Chess Federation (ZCF).
Acting president Mucha Mkanganwi said the federation had also successfully completed a draft constitution, which “will set the tone for the future of local chess”.
“This constitution mirrors the FIDE (International Chess Federation)’s constitution and now awaits ratification by affiliates at the next general assembly to be held by June 2023,” he said.
“We have started the process of working on transitional measures to ensure that chess continues to be played and that we build towards life after the constitution ratification.”
“We shall be finalising the constitutions for the provinces in the first quarter of 2023.”
He described 2022 as a successful year for local chess.
“Our biggest achievement this year was that we were able to send a men’s and women’s team to the 2022 Olympiad.”
ZCF managed to attract sponsorship from Edgars, Old Mutual, the Embassy of India, Zimre Holdings, The Pulse Group, Crystal Candy, the SRC and United Refineries.
“It is from this background that our teams performed very well, with the men’s team rankings moving up to fourth in Africa after Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa,” he said.
“On the global rankings, we moved from 98 to 58.”
The federation also organised two local Grand Prix tournaments after a five-year hiatus.
It also hosted its first-ever FIDE-rated tournament.
Online Reporter