INCARCERATED Zimbabweans chess players won silver at the Intercontinental Inmate Chess Championships held online from 13 – 15 October.
Zimbabwe won 4-0 in their first game against Georgia 2 and defeated the Czech Republic 2 by the same score.
In the third round, Zimbabwe continued with the same vein of form as they interestingly whitewashed Russia 2. The Zimbabwean inmates crashed Macedonia, who managed to escape by half a point in the fourth round.
Norway 2 suffered another four-nil defeat to Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe were leading the pack before the final group draw against the Netherlands.
This left Zimbabwe as the group leaders before they met Mongolia, who were the winners from the other group with a perfect score. Zimbabweans drew the first blood in the championships’ final as they won 2.5-1.5 in the first final of the two sets.
Team Zimbabwe was unfortunate in the final round when they lost 0.5-3.5. Overall, Zimbabwe were eventually edged by 5-3 in the eight games they played in the final.
The Zimbabwe inmates gave a good account of themselves as they ended up as the runners up on this historic occasion.
Team Zimbabwe was a big hit on social media, with most chess fans supporting their team with some sending messages of encouragement.
The future is undoubtedly bright for Zimbabwe inmates as they proved beyond reasonable doubt that they have the potential and that there is a lot of untapped talent behind bars.
Todd Mapingire, Zimbabwe Chess Federation, Secretary-General, hailed the team’s performance by emphasizing the importance of the landmark achievement.
“The performance was out of this world. We are equally shocked and impressed that we have a world-class matching standard of players that can knock out countries like England, Russia and other western countries that are ranked way above Zim in chess,” he said.
“A big thank you to Commissioner General of Prisons Mr Chihobvu for partnering with ZCF and allowing inmates to participate in the online tournament. Credit also goes to our sponsors Minerva and Pulse for standing with ZCF and the inmates in this noble cause for humanity.”
Team Zimbabwe
Aleck Mushowani ‘Heavy Heavy’ (Hre Central)
Desmond Marufu (Hre Central)
Nhamo Matemamombe(Hre Central)
Leo Matibe (Chikurubhi Max)
Nicholas Dhamota (Chikurubhi Max)
