He had originally set his dreams on being a striker for the Zambian national football team after playing at the youth level.

At first his father was concerned about Amon spending too much time playing chess as he imagined it would distract him from his academic interests.

He earned the IM title at the 1998 African Zonal (zone 4.3) with the required 66% score and later went on to win the first of his two African Junior Championships in 1999 by 12/13 followed by an 11/11 score in 2000 during which he earned the moniker, "The Zambezi Shark" and became famous for repeatedly defeating his competition in Fischer-like fashion, winning tournaments by large margins.

He also carried the Zambian flag abroad in the 2000 under-16 championship and beat Iran's Ehsan Ghaem Maghami who would later become a Grandmaster.

[5] For his effort, he earned a silver medal, two GM norms (2000 Olympiad, 2000 African Championships) toward the three to become an International Grandmaster and was named Zambia's "Sportsman of the Year" in 2001.

While a student at UTD, he helped the chess team win two national collegiate championships.