By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –

THE Chess Federation of Malawi (CFM) has invited Zambia’s leading two officials, Chanda Nsakanya and Linus Katebe to be arbiters (referees) at the Mdina Chess Championship to be staged in Blantyre this weekend.

According to a letter of invitation, the CFM wanted the two to officiate Malawi’s premier chess tournament because the Zambians will not only spice up the tournament but also bring their valuable experience.

Nsakanya and Katebe are World Chess Federation (FiDE) certified arbiters with the Mdina Chess Championship running until mid next week.

Gilton Mkumbwa, the CFM secretary, said the Mdina Solutions-sponsored tournament had three qualifying events in each of the three regions of Malawi and eventually culminated into this final tournament where the two Zambians have been invited.

“This is a very important chess tournament to Malawi and with such sponsorship, we shall be keeping chess players active because some regions do not have sponsored tournaments and this is diminishing the chess players’ morale.

“With this, we shall also raise the standard of chess through regular tournament participation in the country,” he said.

Nsakanya expressed happiness at the invitation, saying it would afford both Zambia and Malawi a chance to interact on the development of the sport.

He said the interactions would allow the two countries to move together in development.

Nsakanya said the exchange of ideas was key to progress in both administration and standards of the game on the chess board.