Curtain Comes Down on The Harare Chess League 2022 Season

The Harare Chess League 2022 season had 10 teams, comprising 3 Corporate clubs and 7 community clubs. Harare City Chess Club defended its 2019 title by emerging as the winner again in 2022. Chi-town Masters Chess Club came 2nd, surpassing their previous 7th place in the 2019 season, followed by CBZ in 3rd, just one place below their previous 2nd place in the 2019 season. The league was suspended in 2020-2021 due to COVID-19.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The Harare Chess League boasts of producing the best chess players in the country:

1. Most of its players made it into the National Team that took part in the Chennai India 44th edition of the FIDE Olympiad in August 2022.
2. Harare Chess League players were also part of the national team that successfully defended the men’s and women’s titles at the 2022 Confederations of Universities and Colleges Sports Association (CUCSA) tournament held at the University of Lilongwe’s Bunda Campus in Malawi.
3. Harare Chess League also had winners in most tournaments hosted by Zimbabwe Chess Federation:

• Chinhanga Tinashe (Harare City Chess Club) and Zhemba Zhemuse (Chitown Masters Chess Club) won the Masvingo and Bulawayo Grand Prix Tournaments, respectively.
• Kudzayi Charinda (Harare City Chess Club) won the Minerva Chess Open Tournament 2022, ladies’ section.
• Spencer Masango (Waterfalls Chess Club) won the 2022 Easter Open Men’s Chess Champion

CONCLUSION

The Board acknowledges the dedication and commitment shown by all stakeholders, partners, clubs, and players who did their best to compete week in and week out despite limited resources. The Board also hopes to use a centralized venue for all 2023 matches. This enables easy arbitration and FIDE rating of all matches making the league more professional and internationally recognized as well as being cost-effective for the various clubs who are already financially constrained.

The 2023 Harare Chess League will be starting on 1 April 2023. For more info please check out the 2023 League Handbook.