FM Joseph Mwale & Priyasha Shriyan are the 2023 Malawi Chess Champions

FM Joseph Mwale and Priyasha Shiryan emphatically retained their Malawi National Chess Championship titles in a hotly contested event.

The three-day event occurred at Amaryllis Hotels Blantyre and featured the best players from the Northern Region Chess League, Central Region Chess League, and Southern Region Chess League.

FM Joseph Mwale demonstrated exceptional skill and determination, securing an impressive 7.5 points out of 9 rounds. He took home MWK 500,000 (USD 500) plus a trophy.

Kenyan chess fans had a chance to interact with FM Joseph Mwale during the 2023 Kenya Open over the Easter weekend, where he scored an impressive 6.5 points out of the nine-round event.  FM Joseph Mwale is affectionately called ‘GM Fear‘ in Malawi!

On the other hand, Priyasha Shriyan also displayed remarkable talent, scoring 8 points out of 9 rounds to win MWK 300,000 (USD 300) and a trophy.

 Top 3 in the Open section:

1. FM Joseph Mwale – 7.5 points,

2. Precious Kamwendo – 7 points.

3. Peter Nyama – 7 points

Top 3 in Women’s Section:

1. Priyasha Shriyan – 8 points.

2. Tupokiwe Msukwa – 7.5 points.

3. Desiderata Nkhoma – 6 points.

The Open Section had 26 players, while the Ladies’ Section had 14 players and ran from 13th to 15th May 2023.

Qualification for the Malawi Chess Championship

The Malawi Chess Federation uses an interesting system where only qualified players can participate. The players qualify in the three regional tournaments based on the following criteria;

Northern Region Chess League – Top seven Open Section players and four Ladies’ Section players.

Central Region Chess League – Top seven Open Section players and four Ladies’ Section players.

South Region Chess League (hosting region) – Top eight Open Section players and four Ladies’ Section players.

Winners from the Open Section and the Ladies’ Section of the 2022 Championship. 

CHESSAM President – three nominees in the Open Section and three in the Ladies’ Section.

The top five winners in the Open and Ladies’ sections will be Malawi’s representatives at any international chess events, subject to the availability of funds.

 Links

2023 Malawi National Chess Championship Open on chess-results.com.