By RONALD CHAWE  –
RICHMOND Phiri beat fellow International Mater (IM) Kelvin Chumfwa to open a point lead at summit at the ongoing Chess Federation of Zambia (CFZ) second phase of national team  election trials in Ndola.
Phiri leads the chart with 5.5 points followed by Robson Kameya and Justin Daka tied on 4.5 points after six rounds played while Chumfwa, the top seed, struggled through to finish in sixth place with 1.5 points.
Phiri, the second seed, is yet to lose a match though a draw against Kasao Mpanga in the second match dented his record of a perfect six following five wins over Lhnganiso Gondwe, Alick Nyirenda, Geoffrey Luanja, Chumfwa and Thomas Zulu.
Chumfwa started his campaign with a win over Keagan Lwandamina before suffering defeat to Kennedy Katowa but won twice in succession beating Titus Mulenga and Candidate Master (CM) Titus Dimba then lost to Phiri prior to winning his sixth round against Goodson Kalolo.
Katowa and Zulu are fourth and fifth place finish giving the likes of Fide Master (FM) Douglas Munenga in ninth position with four points, third seed Musatwe Simutowe in 15th place with 3.5 points and Oscar Mwenya, ranked fourth, in 20th position on three points a good run for their money.
In the women category, Constance Mbatha leads the race on 5.5 points followed by fellow Women Candidate Master (WCM) Phylis Mwilola on 4.5 points while Linda Hamoonga, also WCM, is further down in sixth position and has 3.5 points.
Mbatha kicked off with five straight wins over Faith Chilambe, Maria Banda, Bwalya Lubuuto, Mwilola, Naomi mwale before drawing against Hamoonga and was set to play Daisy Simenda in the next round.
Mwilola, whose defeat came from Mbatha, has Banda to play in the next round hoping to pile pressure on the top. She defeated Mashane Mary, Milika Tembo, Simenda and Mwale while Lubuuto held her to a draw.