THE Zimbabwe Chess Federation (ZFC) has expressed delight after an impressive showing at the 45th Chess Olympiad held in Budapest, Hungary, where the country finished 56th in the Open section and qualified for the Chess World Cup.
Only four African countries namely Zimbabwe, South Africa, Algeria and Egypt managed to qualify for the 2025 Chess World Cup, whose dates and host country are yet to be decided.
Despites finishing 56th, Zimbabwe was the second best country in Africa and also finished second in Category C while the women’s team finished overall 101st place and ninth in Africa.
“It’s actually a huge achievement. I think the last time Africa had 15 countries at the World Cup and this year 11 countries have dropped down and Zimbabwe are among the four that are going to the World Cup along with South Africa, Algeria and Egypt.
“It shows that our strength has improved as a country and we are excited. Imagine being among the four countries in Africa going to the World Cup. We only needed to be in the top 80 to qualify and we achieved it with a very big margin because we were number 56,” ZFC secretary-general Todd Mapingire told journalists when the team arrived back home at Robert Mugabe International Airport on Wednesday.
Tapiwa Gora captained the men team which also had Farai Mandizha, Rodwell Makoto, Emarald Mushore, Roy Mwadzura, Vitalis Mapuranga while the women’s team comprised Agab Dozva [captain] Kudzanayi Charinda, Christine Makwena, Linda Dalitso Shaba, Colleta Wakuruwarewa and Tatenda Melissa Zengeni.
Mapingire highlighted the association’s desire to build from the team’s Chess Olympiad performance.
“As a federation our desire doesn’t end here. Our hope is that we also finish within the top 10. I think going forward our aim is to finish within the top 10 or 20 at least.
“Everyone else is ambitious because once you attain something it’s no longer an achievement you now want to go further. We hope that we are going to pick up from where we finished off and probably restrategise and see how best we can improve from what we have got,” he said.
“These results show that we are a powerhouse in Africa, in the Sadc region and in the world. When we finish with such results with the minimum support that we have got, what more can we achieve if we get more resources towards chess.
“We are actually happy that the education department will be starting to launch chess for the ECDs [early childhood development classes] come next year so hopefully with that induction over a period of years we will have more stars coming in from chess.
“There is a lot of raw talent out there that we need to tap into to assist the national federation. it’s not only about the national team itself but it’s also about the junior section all the way to the top.”
A record 196 countries participated in the Open section (men), while 162 countries entered the Women’s section of the event which took place from September 10 to 22.