TODAY'S CHESS PIC OF THE DAY: The 'LOVELY' chess player!!! Malawi's very own female player, Desiderata Nkhoma! Hailing from Malawi's capital city, Lilongwe, she was born in 1993 and is the first born in family of two girls!!! Her first meeting with the 32 intriguing pieces that lay on the 64 squared board can be traced way back in 2003 when Desiderata Nkhoma was doing standard 6 at school. Despite seeing or rather hearing about chess in the early 2000, Desiderata's interest in the game was a gradual one and it would take 7 more years before she could finally discover that she had a talent in the game of chess!!! Through the internet and by the aid of her personal computer, Desiderata had known the names of the chess pieces and their unique movements. The year 2011 should be the recognized year in which Daisy fully learnt how to engage in the fierce and mind-blowing battle of the game of chess, this was when she was accepted at The University of Malawi's Chancellor college in!!! Continuing practicing the game of chess from the comfort of her home and room at college through the computer and on the internet, Desiderata become more intrigued and amused by the way chess gives humans the ability to engage in lengthy mental battles which consequently pushes them to use their medulla oblongata to the limit as they find the right plan to outplay their opponents!!! Another interesting thing that she observed about chess, was the relatively low number of females that participated in the art of chess! This discrepancy gave her the impetus to take up the sport on a serious level so as to inspire other females in her country to take up the sport!!! Just like any other player who hates loosing especially when they are starting out their chess journey, Desiderata was very low when she lost and would always want to get another chance to play, determined that this time she would not make the same mistake that made her lose the previous game! Having played several local tournaments in just merely half a decade, Desiderata has managed to snatch a few medals mostly in the form of Silver and Bronze, and is looking forward to being a Gold medalist!!! Her first debut for the Malawi female National Team was the 2014 Norway Chess Olympiad where she featured on board 4 for her country!!! Though she did not perform very exceptionally in Norway due to stiff competition that she encountered, Daisy enjoyed her first international tour for Team Malawi as she learnt a lot from the experience and is eager to represent her country on more international expeditions!!! A 2015 graduate in Economics from the University of Malawi, Chancellor College, Daisy is inspired by the most celebrated Malawian female player, The 'Phenomenon' Vitumbiko Gondwe, whom she admits inspires her because of her style of play, determination and a confident attitude on the chess board!!!
By Chess Zealot
