Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Cape chess whizz-kid has eyes on SA Champs
TWO years ago Amahle Zenzile picked up a chess pawn and it was love at first sight.
The 11-year-old from Imbasa Primary School in Crossroads is ranked third-best player in the Western Cape and she is in the top 20 in South Africa in her age category.
Her coach, Thando Hlakula, said it hadn’t taken Amahle long to become one of the best players in her age group, maintaining an impressive rating of 1 054 and winning almost every tournament she took on in the Western Province Metro area.
“From winning third place at the School Girls Tournament at Brackenfell High School in 2017, Amahle has gone on to win a number of gold and silver medals. She has been named best player a number of times,” said Hlakula.
Amahle’s participation in chess events has led to many friendships, most notably that with 12-year-old Trinity van Beeck. The two were once competitors, but have become close friends over the past two years.
“Amahle is one of my best friends in the chess community. We often hang out between matches and give each other encouragement and advice. She is an amazing player and a wonderful person,” said Trinity.
“I once played against her and I thought it would be an easy win, but she outplayed me and I learnt a valuable lesson: never to underestimate your opponent.”
Last year Amahle and Trinity qualified to represent Western Province at the SA Junior Chess Championships (SAJCC), where their team won silver and they both were awarded gold for their respective boards.
Amahle qualified to move on to the next round where she could go on to achieve her South African colours at the SAJCC Closed, which is to be held in Boksburg, Johannesburg from March 16-23.
Despite this outstanding accomplishment, the costs of making it to Johannesburg for the tournament and covering the cost of transport, food, and accommodation proved to be the only obstacle standing in Amahle’s way. Unfortunately, Trinity didn’t qualify for the SAJCC Closed, but she was happy to celebrate her friend’s outstanding performance.
When Trinity heard that Amahle might not make it to the finals due to financial constraints, she took matters into her own hands and created a campaign on donations-based crowdfunding platform BackaBuddy to appeal to the public to support her friend.
“I started the BackaBuddy campaign for Amahle because I want to help my friend even though I didn’t qualify. I know how much time she spends in training every single day; she works harder than any other chess player I know and she deserves to represent our country.
“There are so few girls who play chess; it is a sport dominated by the boys and so when a girl like Amahle comes along, we should all support her,” said Trinity.
The campaign went live this week and has already raised R4 805.38 towards the fund-raising target of R12 000, with contributions from 14 donors.