10 Things You Didn’t Know About Amon Simutowone

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  1. Amon Simutowe (born 1982) is a ZambianchessGrandmaster.
  2. While growing up Simutowe played football.
  3. Amon’s mother died before his second birthday.
  4. He was introduced to chess by his brother Solomon at the age of ten.
  5. Simutowone is the first grandmaster from sub-Saharan Africa and the third black chess Grandmaster in history, after Maurice Ashley and Pontus Carlsson.
  6. Amon holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Master of Science in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford.
  7. In 1995 Simutowe won the nation’s under-21 championship and took fifth place at the African Junior Championships.
  8. In 1996 he won the Zambian Chess Championship as well as the Zambian Junior National Championship.
  9. Simutowe won the African Junior Chess Championship in 1997
  10. In 2002, he moved to the United States to pursue higher education after being awarded a chess scholarship.