Excellent exposure for 3 young Malawi flag carriers at the 2023 Africa Youth Chess Championship in Cairo

* I didn’t see the checkmate coming—Alipo Namangale against Egyptian player

* I made a blunder but I’ve learnt a lot to keep my concentration—Lucie Chimeta

* Mphatso Chikopa played against a strong opponent from Algeria in a game he lost with just 3 minutes to go

By Duncan Mlanjira

In the first round of the ongoing 2023 Africa Youth Chess Championship in Cairo, Egypt, the three Malawi representatives — Alipo Namangale, Lucie Chimeta and Mphatso Chikopa lost all their games on Saturday but they are saying they are not perturbed by the results as they are earning some good exposure.

In an interview that delegation leader and coach, Susan Namangale captured on video, gives the confidence from their body language that they are not intimidated at the over the attendance of 1,000 youths tournament.

Alipo Namangale was paired against a player from Egypt, a top ranked chess-playing nation, and he said he just had one more move to checkmate his opponent but the Egyptian also had an ace up his sleeve.

“I didn’t see his checkmate coming,” he said in the video interview. “I made a blunder from which I’ve a lesson for the next rounds.”

Lucie Chimeta was paired against a Madagascan, and she also said she has analyzed her moves that made her blunder and thus she has learnt a lot in order to keep her concentration.

Mphatso Chikopa was up against an Algerian rated player (1464) and their game was the longest as he played 53 moves and was ready to checkmate the Egyptian.

“He is a strong player and I kept him playing for that long up until with three minutes to go when he checkmated me,” he said, adding that he too didn’t see the checkmate coming.

On lessons learnt, all the three said they have now got thick skinned not to be overawed or pressurized by their opponents no matter where they are from.

Meanwhile, in the second round on Sunday Mphatso and Lucie won their games against Atusaye Sichali of Zambia for Lucie and Otieno Fidel of Kenya from Mphatso.

Lucie was up against Thabano of Bostwana today, Alipo playing John Kathuthi of Kenya while Mphatso against Israel Sidede of Kenya.

In her report, Namangale — who is Zone 4.5 president — it’s been quite tough for the Malawians in the first round as they are playing very well but not translating into wins — “but most importantly, the children are gaining experience and exposure to international tournaments and surely they will be competitive”.

The players — who are members of Dadaz Chess Academy founder by Susan Namangale — left on Friday for Cairo where Susan and Lucie’s mother Chimeta are also assisting as coaches and mentors.

Before the trip, Lucie and Alipo warmed up well through a competitive junior tournament — Back-to-School Under-10 and Under-16 — that Dadaz Academy hosted a week before in conjunction with Vitalite and Germany-based company, Zimpertec as sponsors.

The two sponsors had also dressed up the delegation in solidarity. The Back-to-School was also organised in conjunction with The Gift of Chess, a US chess charity whose global head is Namangale herself.

The successfully tournament was given a thumbs up by Minister of Sports, Uchizi Mkandawire accompanied by the country’s celebrated international netballer, Mary Waya; who is Deputy Director of Sports.

And also gracing the auspicious event was Zimpertec’ Chief Executive Officer, Urlich Zimmerman who happens to be Germany’s Fide Master (FM) and he spiced up by playing a ceremonial match against Malawi’s own FM Joseph Mwale — in which the Malawi chess champion beat the German by two points to zero in britz.

Zimmerman also brought with him chess books as a donation to Dadaz Academy to set up a chess library. Zimpertec is a German-based company working closely with Vitalite Malawi to ease access to quality solar products for the people of Malawi and together they accelerate electricity access in rural areas by providing long-lasting PayGo Solar Home Systems.

The profiles of the three juniors in Cairo are that 8-year-old Lucie playing in Under-8 girls category, is 2022 Under-8 girls national champion; was part of national team at 2022 Africa Youth Championship in Zambia; a gold medalist at Dadaz Chess Championship in Mzuzu; was the youngest player at the 2023 National Championship and is a silver medalists at 2023 Africa Schools Chess online qualifiers.

Alipo, also 8 years old playing in Under-8 Open category, is gold medalist at Mpilo Tournament in Mzuzu in the youth category, silver medalist in Central Region Chess League Open Championship youth category, 2018 Under-8 boys national champion; and also represented Malawi at the Under-7 2021 Africa Schools chess Championship in Kenya and as Under-8 at the 2022 Africa Schools chess Championship in Zambia.

Mphatso (13), who is in Under-14, is a bronze medalist at Central West Education Division, silver medalist at 2022 Dadaz Chess Open in Lilongwe and also represented Malawi in Under-12 at the 2021 Africa Schools Chess in Kenya.

Alipo, son to Susan Namangale, started playing at age 5; Lucie — whose mother played chess when she was in school was introduced to the game at the age of 6 while Mphatso was at 11 years old.