Fide Master Joseph Mwale won the Malawi 2024 Open National Chess Championships. The Fide Master, known in chess circles as Fear, showed that he was still the man to beat in Malawi.
The 9-round Swiss-System tournament featured a time control of 90 minutes for the whole game (Standard). The event was rated nationally and internationally, with an average rating of 1860 among the participants.
Fide Master Joseph Mwale, Malawi’s 2024, Men’s National Chess Champion
FM Joseph Mwale emerged victorious, scoring 7 points out of 9. In the final round, he played against CM Alfred Charles Chimthere, who finished in 2nd place with 6.5 points. Several players saw changes between their initial and final rankings, with CM Petros Mfune moving up from 9th to 3rd place (6.5 points) and Precious Kamwendo climbing from 6th to 4th place (6 points). Top-seeded CM Chiletso Chipanga finished in 6th place.
Precious Kamwendo showed the most improvement compared to their initial ranking, moving up 2 spots from 6th to 4th.
The tournament featured 8 titled players:
- 1 FIDE Master (FM)
- 7 Candidate Masters (CM)
The strong performances and shifting rankings throughout the tournament showcased the competitive nature of this national championship, with FM Joseph Mwale securing a clear first place ahead of a field of talented titled players.
FM Joseph Mwale shares a few words after winning the Malawi 2024 National Chess Championships
The Malawi National Championships was organized by Mpilo Mizere under the Malawi Chess Federation (MAW) and took place from March 29 to March 31, 2024, at the Bingu Conference Hotel in Lilongwe. The tournament director was Peter Jaylos, with Gilton Mkumbwa serving as the Chief Arbiter and Mbwana Leonard as the Deputy Chief Arbiter. Msowoya Emmanuel also served as an arbiter.