By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA  –
THE Chess Federation of Zambia (CFZ) has picked a strong 10-member squad to represent the country at the 2014 World Chess Olympiads.
The 10 were picked after a three-day selection tournament and have been equally split between men and women for the World Chess Olympiad that will take place in Tromso, Norway from August 1 to August 15.
But missing in the final team are Zambia’s in-form players like Gillian Bwalya, Daniel Jere and Epah Tembo.
However, CFZ general secretary Ntemena Bwalya explained that the three stars together with Yvonne Palatema of Indo-Zambia Chess Club all missed the selection tournament due to other commitments.
Bwalya said the Zambian team that had been picked still had quality players that can perform wonders for the country.
Leading the team is Andrew Kayonde, who won the weekend competition held at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka with seven points, and is joined by runner up International Master (IM) Stanley Chumfwa on 6.5 points.
Kayonde, a Candidate Master (CM) finished the tournament with an impressive seven points from a possible nine as Stanley finished joint second with former national champion Chitumbo Mwali.
While Kayonde suffered a defeat at the hands of FIDE Master Richmond Phiri, Stanley finished his campaign undefeated, though an interesting statistic revealed that he failed to beat any of the other four members who have made it into the national team.
Taking the fourth and fifth spots were Stanley’s young brother Kelvin and Phiri on 5.5 points, the two making it into the team after a three way tie-breaker that involved Geoffrey Luanja.
In the women’s category, Yvonne Siana and Constance Mbatha were imperious in the game both finishing with seven points from the possible nine.
Saina lost just one game on her way to the title edging Mbatha of Red Arrows to the top slot on a tie breaker owing to the latter having lost twice.
Women FIDE Master (WFM) Lorita Mwango finished third on 6.5 points same as Linda Hamoonga, who was relegated to fourth place a tie-breaker.
Shutting the door on national team places was Kabamba Mulwale who finished with six points.