Nkwazi chess club player, Justin Daka won the LPCA-YOFOSO chess tournament with undefeated 8/9. He was clearly in-form as he emerged as the sole winner of the highly competitive event that saw the rank outsiders outshinning most conventional chess giants.
Daka began his campaign to victory by defeating the relatively fancied Banda Gift. He continued his trail of destruction winning all the games until round 8.
Despite meeting such fierce players as International Masters Gillian Bwalya and Richmond Phiri, Daka cruised past them, only drawing with Fide Master (FM) Prince Daniel Mulenga and Cornelius Masikini in the eighth and ninth round respectively.
Meanwhile, 15 year old YOFOSO Kings chess prodigy, Margret Bwalya clinched her first major rapid chess title by dominating the ladies section. She amassed 7.5 points- same as Zimbabwean Tanaka Dzinyanyi but tie breaks smiled at the young Margret.
In the under 16 years Open section, top seed, Sauti Joshua Lisuku lived upto his creed by convincingly winning with 8.5/9 points.
In the under 16 years ladies section, Vankhedekar, Nikhil Nitya also invited twaddling as she emerged victorious with an excellent 9/9 points!
Upcoming chess star, Jey Pranav Karunakaran won the under 12 years boys section by accumulating 6 points from a possible 7. Ngambi Mumbi also had the same number of points but tie breaks favoured Karunakaran.
Singh Adhya was declared winner of the under 12 years girls section after she garnered 6.5/9 points. Her closest competitors were Namaanza, Ntanda and kavoota Michele who both had 5 points and thus occupied the second and third position respectively.
In the Madalas section, legendary chess player, International Master (IM) Stanley Chumfwa showed his tenacity and experience by winning the section after accumulating 6.5/9- the same number of points as Tebby Swatu.
The tournament was held at NIPA, right in the heart of Lusaka. The the one day event was organized under the tutelage of the Lusaka Province Chess Association (LPCA) and YOFOSO Chess Academy.
