Mabvuku High chess team wins 2016 Prince Edward Chess Festival..

Mabvuku High chess team wins 2016 Prince Edward Chess Festival.. Mabvuku High School are the winners of the 2016 Prince Edward chess festival which was held on Saturday the 30th of July at Prince Edward school. The team comprised of : Phillip Jekera ,Munyaradzi Thom and Trevor Macheka boards one to four respectively. The team won all their four games defeating Mazowe 3-1 in the first round, Oriel Boys 3-1 in round two, Prince Edward 3-1 before rounding the final round against Highfield 2 High school with the same score to win the tournament.

Round two gave the boys some momentum as they were faced with a mammoth task of playing against some of the former students Graffi Bester and Leeroy Mutukwa. Roy Mwadzura lost to Phillip on board one, while Graffi Bester lost to Munyaradzi Thom on board two , before there was a shock of the day when Leeroy Mutukwa defeated Solomon Chimuzura on board 3, Munanairi was defeated by Trevor Macheka on board four. Highfield 2 High school who had Panashe Chimbwanda lost in the final round with Chimuzura being the only player losing on time against his opponent. The board one battles: Greenwell Chimanya PE captain defeated Phillip Jekera of Mabvuku on board one, while Farai Hamandishe lost to Roy Mwadzura and Highfield 2 High school. St. Georges ‘s Takunda Mudzingwa defeated Greenwell Chimanya meaning to say that no board one player finished with a perfect score.

The upcoming juniors Zengeza 1 High school led by Kudakwashe Zimbowa drew against Highfield 2 High school. While the defending champions Mufakose 2 fell to Highfield 2 High school 3-1 and 2,5-1,5 against Oriel boys to dent their hopes of defending the tournament. Oriel Boys came second after losing to the eventual winners Mabvuku High school, while Highfield 2 came third with 5 match points tied with Prince Edward who came fourth.Phillip Jekera of Mabvuku High was the best player on board one, while Munyaradzi Thom was the best player on board two, while Highfield 2’s board 3 player was the best on his board and finally board four went to Mufakose 2 Boys team.They won some gold medals and certificates, while the winners in the team section got a Floating shield and some gold medals. Oriel Boys got some silver medals while Highfield 2 High school got some bronze medals.

Meanwhile in the Junior boys section Seke 1 High school won the section with 7 points that is winning 3 games and drawing one. St. Alberts boys team came second with 6 points followed by Zengeza 1 High school who came third with the same points. Young Chess masters came 5th in this category. The team comprised of Rumbidzai Mawire, Anashe Murinda, Rit Agarwal and Tinashe Chigova the youngsters from Primary and only Rit is in form one.

The team with the youngest players in this section was Knights Chess Academy comprising of these players: Tinaye Madamombe on board one, John Chibvuri Junior, and Tawananyasha Mawire are all in grade 2 and Tawana Kunaka who is in grade 3.The above team used this tourney as a preparation for the African Youth Chess Championships which will be held in Port Elizabeth , South Africa from the 21st-29th of August. Budiriro 3 Primary school was the best Primary school that took part in this tournament and they won some chess sets to use for practice so that they improve much better next time.

Meanwhile in the girls section Mufakose 2 High school won the section.They won all their four games. In second position was Roosevelt Girls High school while St. Alberts came third. Dominican Convent failed to defend the title which they won last year , they came fifth out of ten teams. Isabale Masawi of Mufakose 2 was the best player on board one, Catherine Mafa was the best player on board two, Primrose Rambanepasi of St. Alberts was the best player on board 3, while Yolanda Nyakurwa of Mufakose 2 was the best on board 4.Thirty one teams took part in the tournament and these were divided into groups of senior boys, junior boys and the girls division. The senior boys category had 12 teams which produced some pulsating games of the day not forgetting the junior boys division which had 9 teams including the primary school kids from Budiriro 3 , Young chess masters and Knights Chess Academy.

In the girls division there were ten teams competing. The likes of St. Alberts were also present at this tournament. FA Farirai Gumbe was the Chief Arbiter of the tournament and he was assisted by FA Chimbamu. Kahoba Lewis, Byron Gurajena and Terence Mukoviya also assisted in ensuring that the tournament was a success. The teacher in charge of chess at the school organised the event. The level of chess is improving so much this was evidenced by the shift in the section winners and the quality of games played by the players.