Susan Namangale

Susan Namangale (born March 1976) is a Malawian chess player. She has played a notable role in the spread of chess in Malawi and southern Africa and has had leadership roles in organisations including the Chess Association of Malawi and the International Chess Federation.

Personal life Namangale was born and raised in Chombo, a village in Nkhotakota along Lake Malawi. She was one of eight children raised by a single mother. Namangale attended Providence Secondary School before studying environmental science at university, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1999. In 2013, Namangale received a master's degree in business administration. Before focusing on chess, Namangale worked in corporate settings, including for the World Bank.

Namangale shifted away from playing chess to focus on administration and advocacy. Between 2018 and 2022, she served as president of the Chess Association of Malawi. In 2023, Namangale established Dadaz Chess Academy, a chess school in Lilongwe, which had enrolled 110 students by 2025. She also expanded the school to include a shelter for street children where they could learn chess while being provided meals of nsima.

In 2024, Namangale was named as the global head of the Gift of Chess, a non-profit organisation that aims to distribute one million chessboards by 2030. As of 2025, she serves as the leader of regional zone 4.5 of the International Chess Federation, covering ten countries in southern Africa. Namangale was the first and only female chess federation president in Africa. In addition, she is a member of FIDE's planning and development commission. She organised and led FIDE's 2025 African Congress, held in Lilongwe.

Namangale served two terms as a board member of the Malawi National Council of Sports before resigning in 2025 due to her decision to run in the 2025 Malawian general election. Namangale announced she would challenge the incumbent member of parliament for Nkhotakota Central constituency, Peter Mazizi, for the Malawi Congress Party nomination. Her platform focused on development, accountability and youth engagement in Nkhotakota.

Namangale has led initiatives to introduce chess to disadvantaged and isolated groups in Malawi. This has included Chess in Schools, which has established chess clubs in 150 schools across the country, including Namangale's former primary school in Chombo. The Chess for Freedom programme focused on using chess as a tool for rehabilitation in Malawian prisons.

Recognition Namangale was named best administrator at the National Sports Awards from the Malawi National Council of Sports for three consecutive years, and also won the Sport Council's chairman's excellency award. In 2024, she won the Best Executed Programme Award for the Chess in Schools initiative. She has served as a representative of the Sports Council.