Malawi prisons’ teams impress in intercontinental chess tourney

Three Malawi Prisons Service inmates teams Bvumbwe Youth, Kachere Women and Zomba on Tuesday made it to the quarter-finals of the Intercontinental Chess Championship which is being played virtually.

Zomba Prison beat Serbia, Croatia, Albania  and Germany,  drew with Italy and lost once to Zimbabwe to finish second in their group.

Bvumbwe Youth shone by winning all their group games against Romania, Serbia and Kenya while Kachere women’s team beat Georgia, Zimbabwe, Serbia, but lost  to Romania to finish second in their group.

The tournament has drawn 133 players from 153 countries. The quarter-finals were played yesterday as we went to press.

Locally, the tournament is being coordinated by Dadaz Chess in partnership with Malawi Prison Service.

Dadaz Chess executive director Susan Namangale described the feat as a great milestone, saying it will motivate other inmates.

She said: “This is the fourth time that Malawi prisons’ teams are taking part in this tournament. We started with two teams and now we have six. Last year, Bvumbwe Young Offenders also reached the quarter-finals.

“This is the preliminary round and we want to go far. As Dadaz Chess, we are proud to be part of this project helping to transform prisoners.”

Namangale thanked Airtel Malawi  plc for providing free Internet and also Raycee Tech for subsidising the computers which the teams are using.

Assistant Commissioner of Prisons Maxwell Kamowa, who coordinates chess in prisons, described the project as a great success.

“With the results we are seeing, we are hopeful of going far. But overall I am happy with what Chess in Prisons and Dadaz Chess are achieving. This project is helping us to reform our prisoners,” he said.

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