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Moses Mutipforo

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
REGISTRATION for the third edition of the Hillside Chess Championships set for February 21 at Hillside Teachers’ College has started and will close on the morning of the tournament.

The competition is being organised by the Bulawayo Chess Association (BCA).

Registration fee for the tournament that has five sections – Open, Ladies, Junior A (Form 4 to 6), Junior B (Form 1 to 3) and development (Grade 7 going down) is $3.

BCA introduced the development section at the Milton Open held in September last year and the Hillside Chess Championships will be the second competition to play host to primary schools pupils.

Moses Mutipforo, BCA director of information, said the introduction of the development section is part of his organisation’s efforts to create excitement among aspiring chess players.

Mutipforo is hopeful that the February 21 competition, besides Bulawayo based players, will draw participants from Mutare, Hwange, Gwanda, Filabusi, Plumtree and Gweru.

“The Hillside Chess Championships is our first event of the year and we are looking forward to a good turnout. We hope players from out of Bulawayo who have participated at our previous competitions will be in attendance. We’ve also maintained the exciting development section, which is for young chess players who are at primary school. Introduction of the category at Bulawayo Chess Association organised competitions is part of the board’s initiatives to identify and nurture talent at grassroots levels. Entry fees for primary school participants are only a $2, with the other categories registration fees set at $3,” Mutipforo said.

Top men’s seed Tarcisio Chikandi and best ranked women’s player Tessa Gumirenhete of ZRP Bulawayo are some of the players expected to compete at the Hillside Championships.

The 2017 Heroes’ Open tournament winner Kudakwashe Sibanda of Nust Chess Club, national champion Dion James Moyo, Farai Janyure of Plumtree and Sifiso Ncube are among top players expected to challenge the top ranked Chikandi.

Some of the players to watch this year include Nust’s Nigel Mabiza, Valentine Nkoma of Nkulumane, the ZRP Bulawayo duo of Sifiso Ncube and Elvis Shora, Tony Siyanyezu of Bulawayo Polytechnic as well as Bulawayo Chess Club’s Bruce Mhondiwa.— @ZililoR