Munyere draws closer to Candidate Master Title

Musa Munyere is a Candidate Master in waiting following a great performance at   the Africa Youth Chess Championships last month in Namibia. The   13-year-old Setlalekgosi Junior School Student managed to win a bronze medal in the   Under 14 category after registering six wins, one draw and two losses. Having  just   started   chess in in 2018 Munyere‘s   improvement  up the  ladder  is  so  fast and he promises  to  be   one of the   young players  who  will   dominate  the  chess   boards  this year.

His  achievement  made  him a CM  elect, a title which  he will   obtain   when  he reaches  the  minimum   rating  of   2000 that’s   when  the  title  will  be officially   approved .Munyere, who is also  the   product  of  the Francistown School of Chess,  currently  has a good rating of 1642 which  means his chances  of reaching  the 2000 mark this year as long as he will be  kept  busy with tournaments. Munyere’s   great  performance  at the   Africa  Youth  Chess  Champs  is a great  milestone  considering that    the  competition   was  his  first major  tournament  and  he  was not  playing as part  of the  national  team  since  he was  self-sponsored.

 According to his trainer Thapelo Molefe, the young boy has been showing great potential from the   early days when they started training together.

“Musa is a calm player who combines   both tactical and positional understanding of the game. We have a vigorous and an intensified   training plan   for the boy when he resumes training. We will also travel to   neighbouring     countries to allow him    to compete in more intense environment   as we begin   the quest of achieving 2000 rating for him,” said Molefe.

Munyere   follows  in the    footsteps  of  WCM Refilwe  Gabatshwarwe  who  is also  on the  verge  of  getting   the   new  title  of  Woman Fide Master. According to World Chess  Federation  standards    for a player to be  directly  awarded a title they  should  have  1800 for  WCM, 1900 for WFM ,2000 for WIM and 2100 for WGM  title. In the men’s  section  CM  title   is awarded  at   2000 rating ,FM  at  2100 while  IM and  GM  titles are    bestowed at   2200 and  2300  respectively.