By GWEN CHIPASULA –

FIDE Master (FM) Andrew Kayonde finished in 18th position at the just ended 2015 African Individual Chess Championship held in Egypt.
The tournament won by Africa top ranked player and Grand Master (GM), Bassem Amin, who amassed seven points, saw Kayonde finish on 4.5 points after nine rounds of the championship that started on May 2 to 10 in Cairo.
Kayonde picked up a win over International Master (IM) Mohsen Elgabry of Egypt but lost his second match to IM Mohamed Ezat before forcing a draw against Khalil Nafri of Mauritius.
The Zambian then beat Candidate Master (CM) Ahmed Abuzied of Sudan but lost his sixth round tie to GM Essam El Gindy before bouncing back with a win over Adel Choukri but again lost to IM Ali Farahat.
Kayonde beat Samir Nadir, a CM, but wrapped up his campaign with a defeat to Egyptian IM Khaled Abdel.
In the women event, Lorita Mwango finished her competition on five points which was four points behind winner Women Grand Master (WGM) Khaled Mona of Egypt, who won all her matches.
Mwango, a Women Fide Master (WFM), won her two opening matches against Olabisi Rabiu, a (Women Candidate Master), and Firdaous Mayar before going on to lose her three successive matches to Women International Master (WIM) Shahenda Wafa, Hend Mohsen and Tasneem Ehab.
The Zambian star then picked up her form beating Mohammed Ibtihal, WIM Onkemetse Francis and Elgohary Myada before losing her last match to Mona.