Three of the 206 players at this year’s Chess World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, will be from Namibia.
This is after Goodwill Khoa, the Namibian Chess Federation president, Namibian women’s champion Jolly-Joice Nepando and national champion Heskiel Ndahangwapo qualified for the global showpiece following their participation at the recent African Individual Chess Championship in Giza, Egypt.
“This was the African Individual Chess Championship where the best players from all over Africa compete for the prize of continental champion. I believe this is what sets it apart from the rest [of the tournaments they took part in]. Players bring their utmost resilience and grit,” said Ndahangwapo.
Khoa expressed delight at the achievement, saying they look forward to testing their minds against the world’s best from 30 July to 24 August.
The trio will compete in the RMB Namibia Open Chess Championships, which starts in Windhoek today and concludes on Monday.
Khoa called for support for the federation as they embark on a mission to keep the Namibian flag high at the 10th edition of the single-elimination chess tournament.
He said they had the opportunity to network with other international structures as a means to attract investment to Namibian chess.
“Furthermore, being both a player and a delegate representative, I was able to see what happens on both sides of the fence and listen to both players as well as organisers regarding positives and concerns they experience in hosting and playing at this event,” Khoa said.
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