2025 African Amateurs Chess Championship

2025 African Amateurs Chess Championship – Thomas Zulu triumphs

The 2025 African Amateurs Chess Championship concluded in late August, with Thomas Zulu of Zambia emerging as the clear winner of this highly contested event, securing 8.5 points out of nine rounds. He bagged the title with a round to spare and earned himself a Candidate Master CM title as well.

WFM Sasha Mongeli of Kenya performed well to end up in 3rd place in the ranking, but more importantly, won the Ladies U2300 title to clinch the gold medal and personal rights to the 2025 World Amateur Chess Championship. She scored 6.5 points and just managed to pip the hugely talented WFM Sana Omprakash Kayyar of Uganda, who had to settle for the silver medal, who scored six points and ended up fourth in the overall standing.

Chrispinius Wanjiru, the defending African Amateur Chess Champion in U1700, scored 5.5 points to finish 6th in the ranking.

Thomas Zulu of Zambia. Photo credit Mukunya Arthur.

Round 8 of the African Amateur Chess Championship saw intense action, with South Sudanese player Madol Garang securing a draw against Uganda’s Junior Champion, WFM Sana Omprakash Kayyar, in a clash that proved decisive for the podium race.

Madol had to dig deep to try to checkmate the wily WFM Sana Omprakash with a bishop and knight by move 117, and struggled to do so within the 50-move rule.

Madol Garang ended the event by scoring seven points and getting the silver medal.

Ladies U2000/U1700 Category

WFM Constance Mbatha of Zambia won the Ladies U2000/U1700 category with a score of nine points out of nine rounds. She will be the African representative in the Ladies U2000 at the 2025 World Amateur Championship, while Mirembe Merceline of Uganda, who was second with 8 points, will go as the Ladies U1700 representative.

The Championship was hosted at the Hotel Source du Nil in Bunjumbura, Burundi, from 17th to 25th August,2025 and saw 41 players from six federations participating for top honours and personal rights to the 2025 World Amateur Chess Championship, which will take place in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, from November 4 to 14, 2025.

The event consisted of two separate sections, each with its required rating groups. The first group was the Open, with three rating groups: U2300, U2000 and U1700, and the other Section was Ladies U2000 & U1700.