Midlands chess contest in April

THE Lusaka Province Chess Association (LPCA) has set April 7 as the date for the commencement of this year’s provincial league.

LPCA general secretary, Maybin Chinama, also announced that the association has adjusted affiliation fees for 2019, for both institutional-sponsored and individual or community-sponsored teams, respectively.

He urged clubs to confirm participation in this year’s Lusaka chess league by Monday March 25.

Chinama said the prizes for the 2019 league will be announced at the start of the league, and that the participants would be recognized by the international Chess rating system.

“This means that all players who will take part in this year’s competition will be rated by the international chess mother body so we should look forward to a better season,” he said.

Fifteen clubs are expected to participate in the tournament.

Mr. Chinama also said that the association has seen it fit to hike fees in order to improve the game.

The association has increased affiliation fees from K500 to K700 for community or individual sponsored teams, and from K1000 to K1, 500 for institutional sponsored teams.

“The adjustment of affiliation fees has been done in an effort to improve the game. As you may wish to know, we want to have as many tournaments as possible this year in order to expose the players,” Chinama said.

Chinama said the association would also be holding monthly zonal tournaments in line with the 2019 Chess Federation of Zambia (CFZ) programme.