Dadaz Academy to extend its chess in prison program to other Malawian prisons

Namangale at the Cook County Sheriff in Chicago

* The chess players I saw in prison were so free mentally and we played some games with them

* It was such an amazing experience to see sports programs in prison as a true reflection of sports for all

* Among the sports programs is the chess program and inmates participate in international online games

By Duncan Mlanjira

Dadaz Chess Academy, which launched a chess in prison program at Maula Prison last year, now has plans to extend it to other penitentiaries after the success of the initiative at Maula.

Dadaz Academy founder, Susan Namangale — former Chess Association Malawi (CHESSAM) president — is attending a Chess for Freedom conference in Chicago, US in her capacity as Zone 4.5 president where she had the honour to be taken to Cook County Sheriff, that country’s second largest prison.

In an interview from Chicago, Namangale said Chess in Prison program is being called Chess for Freedom as “a great tool to improve the quality of life for prisoners as they prepare for liberation”.

“The chess players I saw in prison were so free mentally and we played some games with them,” she said. “It was such an amazing experience to see sports programs in prison as a true reflection of sports for all.

“Among the sports programs is the chess program and inmates participate in international online games. I came to learn so that we can get our prisoners to participate in the programs too though our challenges in Malawi Prisons are many.

“The chess in prison program at Maula Prison is doing very well and now I plan to replicate to other prisons as my plan is to see Malawi chess players in prison participate in an international online tournament later this year.”

She explained that she was invited to the conference taking cognizance of her initiative to enhance the program in Malawi and she made a presentation on the sport’s experiences and challenges.

“In Malawi, I partnered with Uthunthu Ministries, who are doing other services in prisons including skills development,” she said.

On world chess governing, FIDE website says the “rights and opportunities of self-realization and development for people in imprisonment are essential prerequisites in order to consciously build their future after liberation”.

“Access to training and learning, as well as to quality ways of socializing could give strong motivation to change for better. Chess is a game that not only allows the inmates to spend a quality time and socialize in a smart and safe way, but also can serve for decreasing such common symptoms like depression, stress, and anxiety.

“Developing memory and logical thinking, improving concentration skills and imagination may foster their reintegration after liberation. Chess inspires self-motivation, develops the capacity to for-see consequences and demonstrates the success is a reward of hard work.”

Thus to support and promote this line of work, FIDE and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office have signed a cooperation agreement and launched the ‘Chess for Freedom’ program — which kicked off this month of May with an online conference and an exhibition tournament with four participant countries.

Dadaz Chess Academy was primarily initiated with a quest to groom prodigies all over the country to promote the sport at grassroots and help Malawi become a strong chess playing nation.

The Academy so far has 3 centres in Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Nkhotakota and in an interview when it was officially launched, Namangale, said she has big plans to reach out to the youths and make chess popular amongst school going children.

“Chess is an important tool to build strategic leaders of tomorow and an important tool for mindset change, which is an enabler in MW2063 development blueprint,” she said.

“To change the mindset, it needs people with critical and analytical thinking who see beyond status quo and make the right decisions — and chess is a tool for that.”

Namangale wrote history in Malawi in 2018 when she became the first woman president of the sport and rewrote if by being the first female chess federation president in Africa.

In May last year — after she was elected the Zone 4.5 — FIDE made special recognition of her achievement in the fourth episode of the FIDE Podcast, an initiative born under the umbrella of the Year of the Woman in Chess.

FIDE acknowledged that among the key milestones achieved under Namangale’s leadership included:

* Increasing the number of female chess players from less than 10% to over 30%;

* Launching chess in a school development program; and

* Reaching out to rural schools and setting up chess clubs.