Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe

"A Game of Chess -- with The Grandmaster," The Financial Gazette, 13 January 2004 (Harare, Zimbabwe).

IT was good this week to hear from Takaedza Chipanga, one of Zimbabwe's top chess players now based in the United Kingdom.

Chipanga, many will remember, represented Zimbabwe on Board Two at the Bled Olympiad alongside International Master Robert Gwaze, Michael Luberto, Wisdom Chikwanda and Rangarirai Karumazondo, with Big Brother Charlie Kuwaza captaining the side.

The young prodigy says there is not much competitive chess in the UK, except for the occasional tournament, and he has to rely on the Internet to keep himself abreast of the latest developments in the game.

This situation is not peculiar to Chipanga. Several other players have had to rely on the information superhighway to keep "in good shape", so to speak.

Among the numerous chess sites they have found useful on the Net are chessbase.com, which provides news on the game from around the world. The site also has a database of the world's top players.

Just for your interest, chessbase.com this week featured one man the great
Garry Kasparov has never been able to beat -- Teimour Radjabov. Radjabov alleges Kasparov has been conspiring with tournament organisers to bar his (Radjabov) participation in competitions because the Great One is afraid of the young man from Azerbaijan.

There is also Chessbase Big Database, which features games from as long ago as 1530. Then there is bcf.org.uk, and "chess is fun". My favourite is GameKnot.com, where one can play against players from diverse backgrounds and countries.

The simple tip, really, to those who would want to play chess on the Internet is to go to Google and just type the word "chess", then press the "Enter" key. From then on the computer leads you.

In conclusion, let me give you Takaedza Chipanga's e-mail address. He says he would welcome any communication on the game of wits.

The address is: 
tchipanga@thedoghousemail.com.

My own address, as you should know by now, is
chris@fingaz.co.zw.

Cheerio!

Zimbabwe's Men’s Team (front, from left to right) IM Robert Gwaze (Bd. 1), Takaedza Chipanga (Bd. 2), Michael Luberto (Bd. 3) and Charles Chakanyuka (Bd. 4); from left to right (in the rear), Wisdom Chikwanda (Bd. 5), Rangariral Karumazondo (Bd. 6) and Charles Kuwaza, (captain). Copyright © Jerry Bibuld, 2002.

2002 Bled Olympiad Team. (front row, from left to right), IM Robert Gwaze (Bd. 1), Takaedza Chipanga (Bd. 2), Michael Luberto (Bd. 3) and Charles Chakanyuka (Bd. 4); (in the rear, from left to right), Wisdom Chikwanda (Bd. 5), Rangariral Karumazondo (Bd. 6) and Charles Kuwaza, (captain). Photo by Jerry Bibuld.

Posted by The Chess Drum: 13 January 2005