Patience Tsuses and Heskies Ndahangwapo delivered the best performances in the women's and men's categories of the Namibia Chess Federation (NCF) national chess championship qualifiers, held over the weekend at the Protea Hotel Fürstenhof in Windhoek.

Tsuses secured the first spot with 5.5 points.

Four other women managed to secure their places in the upcoming national event.

They are Tjatindi Kamutuua, who ended second with five points; Lure Horn (3rd, 5 points); Lusia Namushinga (4th, 4.5 points) and Linekela Itembu (5th, 4 points).

In the men's section, Ndahangwapo won first place with six points, followed by Bernhard Schwarz (2nd, 6 points); Manfredo Gaoseb (3rd, 5.5 points); Otto Nakapunda (4th, 5.5 points).

The Namibia National Chess Closed Championship is scheduled for 17 to 21 March.

The event attracted over 50 participants, which saw the best of the best taking on each other in a battle of the brains across various categories.

NFC president Goodwill Khoa said the event was a huge success.

"It was a huge success, looking at the number of participants who came out, as we had a large group of players all bringing their best to the chess board. I believe this has to be one of the most competitive tournaments. Also, everyone was stretched to the limit and all winners had to really earn their stripes," said Khao.

"We had participants from Erongo, Khomas and other regions fighting for top honours - and if you look at how competitive the tournament is, you'll realise how fast the sport has grown in the country."