It is with deep sorrow that I announce the deaths of the two players. God Father represented Zambia at the Special Olympiads for chess. He will be dearly.missed for his contributions in chess development in Zambia. The Zambia and Zimbabwe Chess Social media was awash with some tributes to these sons of the respective soils.
Kripo was like my young brother, everytime he met me he would say Mkoma Chimbamu . After almost attaining his Fide Arbiters Title this suffered a still birth because this will be given post humorously. Kudakwashe Sibanda a former team mate in the Bulawayo Provincial team as well as having played against each other in Bulawayo tournaments and the chess League. ‘The Great Chivs’ as he used to call himself left an indelible mark in the chess history.
Below is an exeprt from Kudakwashe Sibanda.
It is a eulogy to the Great Chivs’ the late who died before even people ever thought of his demise as his life was full of more years to live as the people of the world expected. For someone l.last saw at Churchill at the National Scholars earlier this month. He was an Arbiter from Mat North. This was the last time that I last saw him.
People mourned this son of the soil from all walks of life. Some from as far as Harare, Victoria Falls, Bulawayo and other parts of the country. Mat North Head In Charge Mr Cheteni was also among the mourners. Zimbabwe Chess Federation President Todd Mapingire travelled all the way from Harare to pay his last respect and other affiliates of the Federation. The Vice President Elvis Shora was also among the mourners. A great farewell to the son of the soil who brought life to Victorian Falls chess community. At the Nationals Carol Ndlovu walked away with a gold medal and is from Victoria Falls. A product of the Great Chivs’.
The Great Chivs
The death of Kripo Chivhenge brought an astringent taste to an already sour nation. Makes me want to puke at the way the medical team in the country is handling frangible cases that walk into the casualty rooms. Surely there had to be a doctor who could have saved the lad. Surely. I’m telling you this today: there is a lot of blood on the hands of medical institutions’ heads and nurses who have neglected the oath to save lives and focus on the chant about how the state of the nation is. Save a life and then speak about the misrule. The moment you wear a white uniform and are at the front desk of the ICU you have to forget all your problems and focus on the patient. Easier said than done I guess but that’s my expectation.
On Sunday, while I was preparing for church, I got a notification on a comment from one of the mutual friends on Facebook. The message on the notification had changed from ‘ get well soon’ to ‘ Rest in peace.’ I rushed to check the photo Kripo had posted.
He had said he was ‘down but not out.’
You know what that means. He wanted to live. He still had life in him. His time had not come. I know many will come and preach at his funeral, saying his time had come. No, it hadn’t. He needed a simple procedure that needed a level head and money, which people would have paid if the issue had been treated with flashing red lights. We thought leaving someone on a hospital bed was going to save him. I’ve seen so many die on government beds. That has been the norm.
I can’t put all the blame on the institutions. Kripo delayed treating something that he thought was minor. He should have rushed to the private hospitals and got X-rays and a tetanus shot. Sometimes we absorb the pain and drink it away. He might have done. The practitioners might have their argument but still if someone comes with a heartbeat they can do something can’t they?
There is no free medication and the institutions can’t reach for what they don’t have. They will ask you to pay for everything and if you are not vigilant to guard your own life you will move from the bed to the mortuary. Doesn’t it scare you?
I was dumbfounded and crestfallen. Two emotions that sort of stiffen my typing hands. I have gathered strength again to write. I went through the thread of messages. He was indeed a man of the people, but like me, everyone assumed it was a knock.
‘ Get well soon’ was enough. Right, well, we buried him. Nxa mani. Life so, you might plan for a tomorrow that might never come.
I first knew Krepo in high school back in the early 2000s when we were doing the chess league games. I was a much senior player at Form 3 and later 4, which doesn’t sound as big now, but in our teens ages of 3-4 years difference, is considered a huge gap. High school chess always had a new kid on the block who caused heads to turn. He was from #Sizane and they had produced good players but the location meant we always doubted the capabilities of those from schools without whites. We had a few colored chaps who sort of gave us a diluted rhetoric to our arguments. The schools from the west high-density suburbs proved many of us wrong though.
Their crop of players who had been amongst the best had since left but they always had someone who was amongst the best. We too at Gifford had shuffled the pack, the old guard had bowed out to further their education. Varsity. Polytechnic. So we sort of ruled the roost at the regional level. We were left with the heritage of the top tables with the likes of Thabani Mqwayi , Nqobile Sibindi , Conrad Mpofu, Bongani from Mpopoma we played nationals and won everything at Milton High school. In our stride for dominance the region went bankrupt when we were our bloom and we didn’t much enjoy the tours to other provinces.
We had to beg for sponsorship and only two medieval buses from Founders and Milton High school were available to take us beyond. Again they failed us. There was a strong contingent of chess players who had come up the ranks then. I can’t name them all here. The pairing would leave out so many, and you know chess players want recognition. They will inbox me to tell me about their Catalan variations that won them accolades. Weak variations.
Krepo was set to be amongst the pacesetters who we would leave the board game to but we were still much alive in the stable to pass on the button stick to the younger. Chess players had the habit of repeating grades to gain scholarships. We met that fierce tactic in Harare. They didn’t want to age. I failed to balance the game and the grades. After Form Four, due to some misfortunes, I didn’t go back to #Gifford, but I was engaged in the gossip. Krepo came, and he went without that much of an impact at high school, giants arose and snatched the fame from his grasp and I thought his passion had dwindled away, and surely it had. He was amongst the upcoming till he grew much older. When we would meet he would brag of his short stint. Hey days. He had his moments but I only heard of a few somersaults and times when he pulled the rabbit out of the hat.
We had held many a tournament before legitimizing BCA and he wasn’t there. I don’t remember him in many pairings. Maybe he was, but I didn’t notice. No, he wasn’t. I met him after many years when the passion for chess had waned. He had a laptop that was giving him problems, and we renewed acquaintance. I became his technician. We talked like men without having to discuss variations; we just had to make money and settle. But as time progressed, I noticed he was gifted in organizing, coaching and gathering people. I watched from the rooftop of my own profession and applauded. I had been there and done that. Organizing chess events is a thankless gig. Someone always stands to benefit from your works then get the applause and profit. I really hoped they didn’t manipulate his love for the game. He defended his niche at times and hoped from brighter days.
He redirected his love for chess to grassroots. He was much active in schools and was part of the bandwagon of patrons that inspired many in the Matebeleland region whose tentacles stretched to Vic Falls, where he was based. It wasn’t without opposition, though. There was a political front that I won’t mention that had its own mantra: Chess politics. The #Zimbabwe Chess Federation has its own issues, so does the Bulawayo Chess Association and you had to be loud at times to stamp your authority through the accusations and demeaning sentiments from the masses. Krepo stood because he loved the sport. I wouldn’t have and I give him his stars on that. I would watch as they discussed it on the group even before the death of Clive Mpambela. I wasn’t much adjoined to the dialogues, but Kudakwashe Sibanda would bring me up to date on the news. After hearing I would just sigh and ask about the next tournament.
Once in a while, rumours went about, and we would check on those we spoke about.
“What happened to Krepo?” We would ask each other at times and then prompting to hear from him would arise then we would get updates.
The #GreatChivs he would call himself. He has married. He had divorced. They have miscarried. He is back in Falls. He is in town. He is having a binge at Palace. Well that was Krepo. His life like many had so many detours but it is what it is.
“Bizov if I get my theory and preparation you won’t beat me” he would say. #Chess banter. We enjoyed the humor but he knew I wasn’t that active in chess. He asked and I told him I was more into soccer and writing. I too had jumped the boarder of none paying professions. I was but a soft encourager that kept him thinking. Maybe one day people will give us our flowers for keeping them away from fangs of misrule. I didn’t know he too was from the boozers league. I last saw him wave at me next to the centre parking bay of Bulawayo Centre some months back or was it. We didn’t talk though. He was carrying suitcases. That was the last time I saw him upright. Like you I thought we had many years left.
I have not buried a chess player who died an honorable death. Not that there is a curse on chess players but it’s been a pattern that has bothered me for some time. What is an honorable death. One with proper goodbyes or a calculated misfortune. There are deaths like that you know. Like he died saving lives but he succumbed to injuries, you hear that at times. He was sick for some time but the operation didn’t go well. I’ve been to funerals and heard of deaths of chess players who have been run over by cars , suicides , murder , terminal sickness, accidents, heart attacks. Chess players are under siege. Oh dear there are so many who have left the pairing but such is life sometimes we think we have time and we don’t. I would gladly take a bye to win but not to Krepo in this life. He needed to be there on the other side of the board to play this. You’ve got this. Push the pawn. We had so many other young ladies to raise and young men to inspire. We can’t take byes now. Burying a lad with a black beard has never sat well with me. I watched him lay there lifeless he’s gone. Kanjalo nje?!
So what next ? We have to have a solution. Where to from here? We can’t play chess and keep silent about the politics that is within our Zimbabwe. We are sitting on ticking time bombs. We have to try and set up a fund to cash out when one of our own is in distress. That’s been the story for years but well it’s now playing like a broken record. I heard one man at funeral speak about declaring Krepo a regional hero. It was a noble cause but we have to make an impact beyond the biracial squares. So many have been weaned from the sport and moved politics. They should create a movement that brings others to the table and raise ideas on national issues. I love chess but there is a generational standing between the gorge waiting for a bridge to patch them to their wealthy place. When someone with so great a following dies from an iron stud it doesn’t sit well with me really. It’s a life of a martyr waisted. It’s a legacy with pages incomplete. Go well my good friend
The above is the pairing out that was done by Kudakwashe Sibanda a close colleague to the late Kripo Chivhenge who passed on the 25th of April and buried in the 28th of April in Bulawayo. A teacher by profession at Secondary level who was also good at entertainment as a Master of Ceremony as well as a wedding planner. He had so many things which he was responsible for besides chess.A legacy was left and a very big void left by Kripo Chivhenge. Go well son of the soil.!!!
Post published in: Featured