Chronicle Editor
Nkosilathi Sibanda, Online reporter
PLUMTREE District Chess Association is set to play host to a major tournament where more than 100 school-going players will clash in the border town next month.
Dubbed the Winter Chess Open, the contest is being held under the auspices of the Matabeleland Chess Association and is the second of such magnitude to be hosted this year in the town.
The first competition that was held on February 2 was well attended, attracting 106 players from all schools around the country.
The upcoming competition will have the open and the development categories section, according to Petros Maphosa, the Plumtree District Chess Association chairman.
“All secondary school players will play in the open section. We aim to give our players more time on the game after having recorded a below-par performance at the just-ended Nash finals in Gokwe,” said Maphosa.
“This prompted us to look at ways of improving the ratings of our junior players and one of the ways of doing that was making sure they play strong opponents in the open section.
The tournament is planned for the July 22 and the venue is still to be finalised but the preparations are at an advanced stage. We expect more than 100 chess players to attend this winter open tournament.”
He said so far, the registration fee has been pegged at US$5 for the open category, while junior players will part with US$2.
“Registration will be open from the first of July and will close on the 20th of July and the fees will be $5 for the open section and $2 for the development section.
Players expected to grace the tourney include champions Blessed Moyo of Thekwane High School, Quinton Maphosa, Bright Monga (Plumtree High), Tapiwa Jele, Blessing “Beamer” Moyo, and Mat South’s undisputed champion Spencer Moyo.
In the open category, Plumtree-based chess players Mthulisi Mahlangu, Donna Zulu Frank Mauba and Mpofu Bophelo are promising to hold on to their records and play for a win.
Maphosa thanked the Plumtree District Chess Association for its dedication and hard work and appealed to the Plumtree business community to continue supporting chess in the district.
“We have received support before from businesses like Plumtree Liquor Store, Chicken King, Beautiful Homes, Same Time Motor Spares and we hope they will continue supporting us so that our tournament can be a success,” he said.
“We also hope our local leaders can sponsor us with chess boards as we need them in the district and the province at large. We need about 50 chess sets for us to run the tournaments successfully and it costs less than US$600 to have those. As we are fighting drug abuse in Plumtree town, we have been working with our executive to make sure that chess is played regularly so that our young chess players can be kept occupied and off the streets by playing the beautiful game of chess.”
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