By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –
WELL over 100 chess players picked from across the country will today converge at the Olympics Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka to fight for places in the national chess team.
The Phase-Two of the 2015 national team selection tournament will see the cream of about 115 players from all registered zone under the Chess Federation of Zambia (CFZ) battle for national team places in one of the country’s biggest chess tournaments.
In the first phase of the tournament, the zones were asked to pick their best 10 players (both male and female sections) with an exception of the Copperbelt region which has 15 spots reserved while the midlands have been given 20 spots.
CFZ secretary Moses Ntemena said phase-two will culminate in coming up with 16 players from both categories to make up the provisional national team.
Ntemena said only Central and Copperbelt regions had not yet sent names of the players they had picked for the national championships that ends tomorrow and will be based on a seven-round Swiss-system tournament.
He said the eight that would be selected from each category will then go into a Phase-Three, which will also be the last stage for the final team.
Ntemena said the players will then compete with the six already existing national team players in each category in a nine-round tournament mid-next month.
He said this will be a rated tournament where only the best of the best will play each other and the top five players from each section will be picked to make the 2015 national chess team.
Those that will make the national team will represent Zambia at future international competitions including the 2015 African individual, the newly introduced African Grand Prix as well as the All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.