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Takudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe Chess Federation begin the season with the Zimbabwe National Chess Championships this afternoon until Monday at Joina City in Harare.

The CBZ Holdings-sponsored tournament is used as a qualifier for the World Cup which will be held later this year.

The Zimbabwe men’s team performance at the 2022 FIDE World Cup guaranteed the country a spot to participate at the World Cup.

The World Cup Qualifier features a double round-robin format and will feature a total of six rounds in each category.

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is yet to advise the venue and specific dates of the competition.

South Africa based International Master Rodwell Makoto returned home on Thursday for the tournament and is the first seed of the competition.

He will tussle it out with fellow national team members in Jemusse Zhemba, Spencer Masango and Emerald Mushore in the Open category. Roy Mwadzura was supposed to be in the fray but withdrew due to pressing personal commitments.

The women’s category features the in-form Linda Dalitso Shaba, a gold medalist at the African Amateur Individual Chess Championships held in Kenya in November.

She also leads the rank, followed by WCM Refiloe Hazel Mudodo, Christine Makwena and Tatenda Melisa Zengeni.

Kudzanayi Charinda will  not be  part of the qualifiers due to other pressing issues.

This is expected to be a tough battle on both sections which will test the skill and endurance of all the competitors.

CBZ have injected a total of US$5 000 into the prestigious competition with a total prize fund of US$3 430.

The Zimbabwe Chess Federation president, Muchakanakirwa Mkanganwi expressed his gratitude to CBZ on behalf of his organisation and stakeholders for such a partnership.

“These are the kinds of partnerships every sport needs in order to grow and especially so in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Chess continues to attract big corporate entities and CBZ has come in to support the Zimbabwe National Chess Championships and this year’s World Cup Qualifier. This is one of the most prestigious chess competitions we have in Zimbabwe where the top players battle it out for ascendancy.

“As a federation, we continue to improve our standards and practice in order to give the best in return to our partners. We are expecting a good tournament because what’s at stake is huge. The winner, as you know, will receive the privilege of representing Zimbabwe at the 2023 FIDE World Cup later this year.

”This is one of the biggest global chess events which brings a lot with it. We have more events lined up for this year and we expect a fruitful and exciting chess season ahead,” said Mkanganwi.