Dominican Convent, Hellenic and St. Georges win inaugural Lomagundi Chess festival

Lomagandi College hosted their inaugural chess tournament on the 17th of September. It was a busy day which started at 0900 and ended at 15:30 hours.

The tournament was ateams tournament which had four sections namely: Junior boys, Juniors girls, Senior girls and senior boys category. In the ior girls division, 12 teams took part, while the Junior boys category had 18 teams including Hartman House Primary school. In the senior girls category ten teams took part while 8 teams took part in the senior boys category.

Dominican Convent Harare won both sections for the girls category. In the junior category Convent won all their five games and walked away with  a floating shield, four standard chess sets and a digitaGwatidzie points but had a half a point difference on their game points or cummulative board points.The best board prize went to Maita Mangwende Of Dominican Convent with a perfect score on board one, Tanya of Hellenic also won all her gaes on board two, while  Gwatidzo Ropafadzo and Munzarikwa Catherine both of Dominican Convent won all their games to get the medals for the outstanding players in the junior girls division. There was stiff competition in the junior boys category as 18 teams took part and the games were also very pulsating which featured the youthful Hartman House Primary school of Harare against the likes of St. Georges, Prince Edward and Hellenic the winners. There were pulsating games which were played by these youngsters.

The Hellenic Junior team came first in the tournament after piping the favourites Prince Edward and St. Georges teams. Eventually Hellenic survived the scare against St. Johns College in the final round when they were held to a draw. They eventually finished with 4.5 points out of 5 games which they played. They won a floating shield, some standard chess sets and a digital clock for their efforts, while in second position there was a four way tie break with teams tied on 3.5 points out of 5 games which they played. The teams are : St. Georges college who had 14 cumulative  board points and 3.5/5 while Prince Edward 13.5 cumulative board points and 3.5/5., St. Johns College finished with 12 cumulative board points and 3.4 points out of five games which they played and St. Georges College B team completes the list of the best performing teams in this category. The above-mentioned teams finished with 3.5 points meaning to say that they won three games , drew one and lost one.Prince Edward School and St. Georges college fought a fierce battle in the final round as they drew a pulsating game. The players on boards two and three had won their games and Prince Edaward was 2-0 down when the players on boards one and four came back strongly and equalled the result ending the match as a draw. B. Mupuzweni won a tough encounter against Tawananyasha Mawire of St. George’s while Kondongwe who was on board four won his game which was also very tough but he had to think deeply to salvage a win in another tough position. The best board prize winners were as follows:

Best board one player was Chiwara Michael of Lomagundi who finished with 4.5 points, on board two Kamanga Barry of Hellenic School had a perfect score winning all his five games. Best board three player was Gatula Kudzai of Prince Edward school who finished with 4/5 points. Best board four player was Gondo Webster of Hellenic Academy who finished with a perfect score whitewashing all his opponents to finish with 5 points.

In the senior girls category Dominican Convent won the section with maximum points and they defeated their arch rivals Girls College and Arundel. The winning teams were Dominican Convent A of Harare followed by Girls College who had 3.5 points so was Arundel and Dominican Convent Bulawayo. Best teams won some chess sets and a clock for the first team and a floating shield while the second placed team won two standard chess sets and a floating shield.

Best players for the senior girls category were :Gandowa Alondra of Girls College was best on board one , while Musiringi Audrey, Zhong Megan, and Mugura Neema all of Dominican Convent Harare  were best players on boards two to four respectively.

In the senior boys category St. Georges College and Prince Edward were tied on first place. They both had four points. The teams never lost any game; they won three games and drew two games. When the two teams met they drew their game. They had to be separated on tie- break rules. The board points are the ones which separated the teams. St. Georges College had 16 board points while Prince Edward had 14.5 points.

The winners got a floating shield, four standard chess sets and a clock while Prince Edward won two standard chess sets and a floating shield. St. Ignatius College who nearly ran away with the tournament were stopped by Prince Edward and they lost  by 2.5-1.5 to PE. Another setback was a draw against St. Georges College. Otherwise the team has a lot of potential. ZRP High finished fourth, they surprised Prince Edward when they held them to a draw. St. John’s College finished fifth after losing the final round game to Prince Edward on board one. The team had played well only to end the steam in the final round, a win could have propelled them to a top three finish. Eaglesvale, Kyle College were at the bottom of the table. There is a lot of potential for these teams. Practice will make them reach some dizzy heights.

Best board prizes went to :Omar Chinyanga of St. Georges College, Chipiko Tawananyasha, Munir Fazal- Rabi Munir and Mukuruva David boards one to four all from St.Georges College won the best board  prizes.

Special mention goes to the tournament Organizer Mr Maurice Mutowembwa and The Dean Seeliger the Lomagandi Principal for the organization of this inaugural Lomagandi chess festival which will be an annual event. It was inscripted on the calendar to be hosted again and it will definitely be bigger and better. Learners enjoyed some sumptuous meals from the organizers and so were the Staff members.

The tournament was well run by the experienced Arbiters who ensured that the time was well managed. Moses Mutifporo and his team worked together to make this a success

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