The 1st edition of the African Amateur Individual Chess Championship was held in the prestigious Matola City Village hotel in Maputo, Mozambique from the 31st of July 2015 (arrival) to 10th of August 2015 (departure).
The event was organized by the Mozambican Chess Federation under the auspices of African Chess Confederation.
The event had two categories: Open and Women. The Open Category attracted 14 players drawn from six federations namely Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Togo, Zambia and the host federation Mozambique.
In the women section there were 8 participants with 7 players coming from Mozambique and 1 player from Zambia.
The Chief Arbiter was IA Chanda Boyd Nsakanya (8700532) from Zambia, assisted by FA Abilio Ribeiro (10100555) from Angola and FA Antonio Alberto Malaige (14800233) from Mozambique.
The appeals committee comprised of 4 members team namely: Mr. Kezzie Msukwa from Malawi (Chairman), FM Stephen Ouma from Kenya, Mr. Enyonam Sewa Fumey from Togo and Mr. Aaron Banda from Zambia. The tournament director was Mrs. Selma Semango (President Mozambican Chess Federation).
The mode of play was 9 rounds Swiss in the Open section and single round robin in the Women section. Time Control was 1hour 30 minutes to make 40 moves and extra 30 minutes to finish with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move one.
The top 3 players in each categories were awarded trophies and each participant received certificate.
The Winners were as follows:
Open Category
1. Thuso Mosutha 7.0 points from Botswana Chess Federation
2. Kiddy Makwaya 6.5 points from Chess Federation of Zambia
3. Oluwashina Tivane 6.0 points from Mozambican Chess Federation. Tivane was joint third with another Mozambican Milton Botao, but Tivane won the play off.
Women Section
1. WCM Phylis Mwilola 7.0 points from Chess Federation of Zambia
2. Neusa Aridas de Castro 4.5 points from Mozambican Chess Federation
3. Maria Ossifo 4.0 points from Mozambican Chess Federation.
The top three players in each category will represent Africa at next years World Amateur Individual Chess Championship to be held in Greece.
The Winner of the open category, Thuso Mosutha was declared the 2015 African Amateur Individual Chess Champion while the winner of the women section, WCM Phylis Mwilola was declared the 2015 African Amateur Individual Women Chess Champion at a colourful closing ceremony that was graced by the Mozambique’s Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports Madam Ana Flavia Azinheira.
For more pictures and stories, please visit the African Chess Confederation facebook page.