Simbarashe Tsvana of Danhiko secondary school won the Hearing Impaired Chess tournament which was held at Face to Face Academy in Harare on the 16th of March 2019. Tsvana wreaked havoc all over the chessboard and won all five of his games which he played, leaving destruction in his wake. Outside, the rain pounded relentlessly on as he relentlessly won game after game.
This was a round robin tournament and some players understandably failed to make it due to the bad weather. Unfortunately for you if you were from the breathtakingly beautiful Chimanimani district or Chipinge and even parts of Chikomba, you most definitely could not have made it to the tournament venue as those areas were severely punished by extreme weather. Cyclone Idai, called the storm that knew no boundaries due to her tearing through at least four African countries, had just come down from neighboring Mozambique but the tournament area and venue remained thankfully largely unaffected by her.
A man looks at a washed away bridge along Umvumvu river in Chimanimani -@ Copyright :
REUTERS/ Philimon Bulawayo
Simbarashe won the most coveted prize of the tournament which was a Notepad Tablet as well as a gold medal. He was the overall best as well as the best under 20.
Tanyaradzwa Anderson came second with 4 points out of five games played only losing to the winner of the tournament Simabrashe Tsvana. He also won himself a Tablet for the under 16 best player which was the major prize for the tournament. Tanyaradzwa is from Darwin Primary School. Tinotenda Anderson followed his twin brother Tanyaradzwa and he came third with three points out of five points. He won himself a medal for his efforts.
And the wooden spoon award goes to…
Vincent Svinurai came fourth with two points, while Blessing Mukotsanjera had one point. Luckmore Chikunguru got the wooden spoon of the tournament. He failed to score even a single point and we hope that he will improve at the next tournament to be held at Andy Miller Hall at the Show grounds.
Mr Guranonga of Darwin Primary School expressed his gratitude after seeing a tournament of its own kind which had a lot of unique characteristics. This was so because generally this group of learners is rarely given preferential treatment so that they play on their own. This was a first chess tournament for the Hearing Impaired players only and it gave them the opportunity to play on their own.
The exposure gave them the opportunity to mix and mingle with other hearing Impaired learners. There is inclusive learning at Darwin Primary School Mt. Darwin. Chenjerai Madamombe of the Zimbabwe Chess Foundation Founder expressed his dismay at the number of participants which was very low, there is however need to promote the game in all the facets of life and to all parts of the Society.
This brings to my mind the “Queen of Katwe” a chess film based on a true story. We should not put barriers to the lives of other people. Let us give them the right opportunities at the right time so that these come into fruition. The vision which Tose Sonke and Zimbabwe Chess Foundation envisioned last year is almost bearing fruits and one day foresee an International Master coming from this group of chess players as well as competing at the highest level.
