THE Bulawayo Chess league will kick off tomorrow at Royal Garden, organisers have confirmed. Bulawayo Chess Association (BCA) public relations director Russell Dzute confirmed the developments saying that clubs had already registered and all was set for the league to make its first appearance.
Ronald Moyo Sports Reporter
“We can now confirm that the Bulawayo Chess League is on and it is starting on Saturday (tomorrow). We have nine clubs so far and all of them have registered one team each although we gave them room to bring even two teams per club. We are looking forward to an interesting season,” Dzute said.
National University of Science and Technology (Nust), Khami Prison, ZRP Drill Hall, ZRP Fairbridge, Hillside Teachers’ College, School of Mines, Bulawayo Chess Club (BCC) and Midlands State University (MSU) are the clubs that are expected to take part in the league.
The association has made strides in including women in chess as there is also a women’s league. Clubs like MSU, Hillside Teachers’ College, Nust, BCC, ZRP Drill Hall and School of Mines have already confirmed their women’s teams in the league.
Club registration will be $50, while players are expected to pay $5 registration fee each. The league will end in November with the winning team in the men’s league walking away with $500 and a trophy.
The runners-up will grab $300 while the third team will get $200. In the women’s category winners will pocket $250, runners-up will get $150 and the second runners-up will walk away with $100.
There will also be individual prices such as the best board — where six players in the men’s league and four from the women’s category will be given tokens of appreciation for their outstanding efforts.
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Dzute said they were still waiting for schools to confirm participation so that they could form a scholars’ club that will register with the BCA league.
The inclusion of school students in the league has been pointed out as a fundamental developmental project by the BCA as they aim to produce future international masters from the region.
Bulawayo-based chess veteran Ronald Chimanzi has donated trophies that will be presented to the winners at the end of the season.
