Gillan Bwalya is a

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player and

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

. He won the

Zambian Chess Championship The Zambian Closed Chess Championship is the national chess championship of Zambia, organized by the Chess Federation of Zambia. Zambia's only grandmaster Amon Simutowe Amon Simutowe (born January 6, 1982) is a Zambian chess grandmaster. He ...

in 2010 and 2013. Bwalya scored an impressive 7/9 at the

2012 Chess Olympiad The 40th Chess Olympiad ( tr, 40. Satranç Olimpiyatı), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place in Istan ...

, and followed this up by winning the 4.3 Zonal with 8/9, earning him the International Master title and the right to play in the

Chess World Cup 2013 The Chess World Cup 2013 was a 128-player single-elimination tournament, single-elimination chess tournament, played between 11 August and 2 September 2013, in the hotel Scandic Hotels, Scandic Tromsø in Tromsø, Norway. It was won by Vladimir Kr ...

. He became the third Zambian to qualify for the World Cup after GM

Amon Simutowe Amon Simutowe (born January 6, 1982) is a Zambian chess grandmaster. He is the first grandmaster from sub-Saharan Africa and the third black chess grandmaster in history, after Maurice Ashley and Pontus Carlsson. He holds a Bachelor of Scienc ...

and IM

Stanley Chumfwa Stanley Chumfwa (born October 31, 1976) is a Zambian chess player. He is an international master (IM). Chumfwa studied mathematics at the University of Zambia. Career In 2003 Stanley Chumfwa won the South African Open chess tournament, held in ...

, losing to eventual winner

Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Cha ...

in the first round.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bwalya, Gillan Zambian chess players Chess International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors 1988 births Living people