FIDE Master (FM) Jemusse Zhemba emerged as the champion of the recently held Mhondoro-TCFL Chess Open Tournament held at the Telone Centre for Learning in Harare on Saturday.
FM Zhemba’s exceptional performance saw him clinch the top spot with a perfect score of 7 points, outpacing his closest competitor, FM Roy Mwadzura, who finished in third place with 6 points.
Zhemba’s victory was particularly impressive given that he did not make the team for the 45th Budapest Chess Olympiad. Mwadzura, who was part of the Olympiad team, was unable to match Zhemba’s performance and slipped to third place after losing to Elvis Chaoma in the fourth round.
Blessing Moyo, known for his consistent performance, finished second with 6 points, despite dropping a point to Trueman Chitambo in the second round. Chitambo, seeded 30th, finished fourth with 5.5 points, while Simbarashe Chikoya shared fifth place with the same score.
The best lady of the tournament was Sally Murairwa followed by Tatenda Ndou.
In the TCFL U14 category, Brian Gerald won with a perfect score of 5 points, followed by Shantel Ihunde with 4 points, and Peace Gandawa was in third place. In the five-round TCFL U12 section, Mukundi Mukono and Emmanuel Mhiti both finished joint first, each scoring a perfect 5 points. In the TCFL 10 category, Brendon Chikasha emerged as the winner, also with a perfect score of 5 points, while Professor Taapera and Natalie Ndoro finished joint second.
Tournament Director and Mhondoro Chess founder Fortune Gandawa expressed satisfaction with the record turnout of 229 participants and the high level of competition at the event.
“We had top players participating in this event, which boosted the level of competition. We also had about 229 chess players spread across different categories,” Gandawa stated.
He also revealed plans to improve future events and attract even more participants.
“All we aim for is to enhance future events and hopefully grow even bigger next time,” he added.
The TCFL chess tournament was organized by Mhondoro Chess in conjunction with the Telone Centre for Learning and was overseen by National Arbiter Lawrence Tavagwisa.
