Joseph Mwale crowned King of Mdina Malawi Open
Mdina Malawi Open Chess Championships is one the most prestigious chess events south of the Equator.
The 9th edition of this year’s event was held from 15th to 17th June 2018. The venue was the College of Medicine in Blantyre the commercial capital of Malawi.
The event was sponsored once again by Mdina Engineering. The impressive prize fund was approximately 1 million Malawian Kwachas (approximately USD 1,400).
Joseph Mwale of Malawi was the clear winner in the Open section with 8.5 points out of 9 games. The Open section had a total of 18 players with an average rating of 1945. This group also had 2 players from Mozambique and 2 from Zambia to add an international flavour to the event.
Sheila Sitoi from Mozambique was the winner in the Ladies section with 7.5 points from 9 rounds. This group had 20 players.
Stanley Mpinganira of Malawi was the winner in the Section B with 8.5 points out of 9 rounds. This section had 48 players.
Chiletso Chipanga who is the current Malawi National Champion ended up in 3rd position with 5.5 points.
It is noteworthy to mention that Chiletso Chipanga is also the 2017 African Amateur Chess Champion.
Chiletso Chipanga also represented Africa in the 2018 World Amateur Championship where he came out joint 3rd in the U2300 section.
Past winners
Past winners from this historic event include the following;
2010 – Kajani Kaunda
2011 – Edgar Khan
2012 – CM Chiletso Chipanga
2013 – FM Gerald Mphungu
2014 – Peter Jailosi
2015 – CM Petros Mfune ‘Razorblade’
2016 – CM Godwin Phiri ( Zambia)
2017 – IM Chitumbo Mwali( Zambia)
2018 – Joseph Mwale
