FM Joseph Mwale during the African Individual Chess Championship
* He earned the spot after coming 5th in the 2021 African Individual Chess Championship which Malawi hosted in Lilongwe
* “This is big news for us and a rare opportunity and motivation for Joseph to do more—CHESSAM president Namangale
By Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express & James Mwale, MANA
In his appreciation of the success of the Blantyre Marathon on Sunday, Minister of Sports Ulemu Msungama made special mention of Malawi’s highest rated chess player, Fide Master (FM) Joseph Mwale, who is expected to fly to Sochi, Russia to participate in the 2021 World Cup Championship.
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Msungama said Mwale has raised the Malawi flag higher as he earned the spot in the elite tournament after putting up an outstanding performance in the 2021 African Individual Chess Championship (AICC), which Malawi hosted in Lilongwe.
He claimed 5th place where the top four automatically qualified for the World Cup Championship, but his performances far outclassed most players many of whom had qualified for the African Individual Chess Championship by virtue of their countries being in the top 100 of International Chess Federation (FIDE) ranking.
CHESSAM president Susan Namangale
Chess Association of Malawi (CHESSAM) president, Susan Namangale told Malawi News Agency (MANA) that though Mwale came 5th his “performance was exceptional” and she thus “felt obliged to write the FIDE president requesting his discretionary nomination of the Malawian player”.
“I saw other players qualifying by virtue of their countries being within the top 100 of FIDE ranking yet their performance was below Joseph’s.
“This is big news for us and a rare opportunity and motivation for Joseph to do more because his performance record has proven that chess is his career and he needs to be supported.
“It is also great news for Malawi as a chess federation, but also good for chess development in the country. I am excited to have facilitated this and I am grateful to FIDE President, Arkhady Dhorkovich for his positive response.”
Joseph Mwale promises to improve his title
On his part, FM Mwale has since promised to make the best of the opportunity to bring honour to his country and also use this opportunity to boost his FIDE rating and attain a higher title.
The World Cup Championship will be played from July 10-August 3 and among the participants will be the world’s strongest grandmasters, including world’s highest rated and world champion, Magnus Carsen.
Mwale is also helping shaping junior players through his online Joseph Mwale Chess Academy and since it formation mid last year, it has made tremendous progress that saw it contributing several players that qualified to represent Malawi at last year’s World Olympiad.
The students that represented the nation at the World Olympiad — which was played virtually — include Charity Tadeyo, Carol Trapence, Tupochele Mlanjira and Praise Kalambo.
The Academy’s coaches Joseph Mwale himself, his brother George and Petros Mfune also made it into the senior squad.
Other Academy products also had great turn up at African zonal tournaments through Lakshita Dutt, Dakhsesh Dutt and Priyasha Shriyan, who represented us well with Shriyan finishing third.
The best academy achievement is Shriyan, who won the senior ladies section of CHESSAM National Championship in December last year.
The other coaches George Mwale and Petros Mfune are Candidate Masters. One other coach is South African Tshediso Mpya.
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