Whilst football obsessives were busy debating on whether Chelsea could beat Burnley in an away encounter, the eyes of the Zambian Chess aficionados and indeed the entire region was at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
Th inaugural BCM Chess Open was taking place at this prestigious event and over 8 countries battled it out for not only individual glory but also an opportunity to put their countries on the acme of regional chess.
However, the Zambian Chess Scene is a different turf and very volatile. Thus, when curtains opened for the 3 days event on 21st November, there was no dead reckoning on who would emerge victorious.
The elite section boasted of such names as Fide Master Douglas Munenga, International Master Gillian Bwalya, International Master Kelvin Chumfwa, IM Richmond Phiri and Fide Master Joseph Mwale among other seasoned gladiators of the game.
But this time around, the pendulum swung in favor of IM Bwalya Gillian who added another collection to his well-heeled accolades on the continental scene.
Bwalya, renowned for his brilliant attacking style began his glorious campaign in dramatic style by losing his first game to rank outsider, FM Musonda Chola.
His second test was the entertaining CM Godwin Phiri. This was definitely a must win game for Bwalya if he still had a desire to contest for the grand prize.And he did not disappoint as he edged past his compatriot in an electric fashion.
IM Bwalya would go on to record back-to-back victories only drawing his round 7 game before returning back to his winning ways in the last two rounds to emerge as sole winner of the 7000 Dollars rich tournament.
Meanwhile, Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Bwalya Mulwale, Lubuuto rubbed off strong opposition to win the Ladies Section without any blemish. Lubuuto despite being rated 1923 had a performance rating of 2002.
In the other sections, Lemmy Chishala won the Open Section after amassing 7 points from a possible 8. In the Under 16 age bracket, Namiluko Phati the top seed, won the event after tiebreaks smiled on him despite finishing the event with the same number of points as Alex Siamalindo. Sauti Joshua won the Under 14 Boys Section.
Abiraam Shanmugaseelan was the Under 10 boys section champion after winning all the six rounds. Mutale, Mumba Janelle equally won the Under 10 Girls Section in remarkable fashion after winning all the six rounds.
The jumbo event magnetized over 200 Chess Players and was sponsored by PhilteQ Consult Limited.
PhilteQ CEO,Mr Phil Daka through Ms. Given Kabota, Research and Administration Officer, stated that the firm sponsored the chess tournament because the game of chess is a strategic game thus alignswith PhilteQ business values and goals.