I didn’t know anything about the game and the funny fact is that l mocked those who played it whenever l see them. The person who taught me chess goes by the name Anyway Mugadza. He was once a police officer and lived next to us. He had a chessboard and gave it to us to learn. He encouraged me and my fellow friends to play the game Since l was good at math’s I found it easier to cope with. Some month’s later l attended a chess tournament for the provincial selections. I went to Afro Beit and scooped first prize then l challenged Collins Mabodongwa who was in The National Junior’s team. We played the game and l lost due to lack of experience but my performance shocked everyone since l was an upcoming star. I then went to high school and I played chess but not that much you know due to some reasons.. I was in boarding school at that time. Then l transferred and Started learning at Highfield high school.
I started sessions with my friend Collen Chikwature. And l became stronger. I didn’t attend any tournament since I had no support., my father could not see the talent in me but there is this saying Everything has its time. Last yr was my first tournament at Easter Open and l obtained a Fide rating of 1868. With my current performance, Some people started noticing the Likes of Roy Mwadzura, Tapiwa Gora and many more. I was then selected for the National U20 team for the Olympiad Fide Online. We played the tournament in a way that everyone was very happy… I performed well beating an IM 2414 Fide rating. And 2250 rated also.
Everyone was shocked. With my performance and l won a prize of being the best Upset. I benefited a lot from playing in the Olympiad for my country because l gained experience and also my reputation During that very tournament l experienced good games playing International Masters and people from different countries.I won 2 matches out of 4., the one l lost was due to network problems and the other l lost fairly.. But I did very well l can’t complain. Before the tournament l attended sessions with my fellow team and they were very good and gained a lot of knowledge in positions and so fourth.I benefited well from the sessions. Also as a chess player l have an ambition of being the first Grand Master in Zimbabwe and l promise that.. In my view chess has some benefits for scholars especially in academics.. Chess opens up the minds of Learners and most of the students who play chess are good at mathematics. Also, there are high chances of scholarships abroad because of chess. Last but not least as a chess player l learnt a lot about how to checkmate hard situations, tackle different problems. And chess taught me life
In conclusion in life, chess taught me how to solve puzzles of life and how to see the mating sequence in times of trouble and whenever u sacrificed a lot of pieces
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