All set for Kenya National Chess Championship
Kenya's Woman Fide Master Sasha Mongeli pondering over a move at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai City, India on July 29, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The 2022 edition of the competition, which is also used to select the national team for the following year's events, will be held from Monday to Friday at the Charter Hall in Nairobi.
- Just like last year, the 2022 competition is expected to be tough after several top chess players registered.
For the third year running, the winner of the Kenya National Chess Championship, Open Section will drive home a Mazda Demio car.
The 2022 edition of the competition, which is also used to select the national team for the following year's events, will be held from Monday to Friday at the Charter Hall in Nairobi.
Just like last year, the 2022 competition is expected to be tough after several top chess players registered.
By the time of going to press, a total of 188 participants had registered, but the number was expected to increase by the end of the day.
The open section had attracted 150 players while the remaining 38 entered for the Ladies's section whose winner will pocket Sh100,000.
Defending champion Martin Njoroge, Mehul Gohil (2019 winner), Candidate Masters Ben Magana, Ben Nguku, Ramesh Vasanth, John Mukabi, Lwanga Agunda and Lwanga Otieno are some of the top players who have registered in the open section.
Others include; teenage sensation Robert Mcligeyo, Joseph Methu, Matthew Kamau, Githinji Hinga and Victor Ngani.
Magana, a multiple Olympiad is the top-ranked player heading into the competition with a Fide rating of 2132 , followed by Gohil (2012), Njoroge (1973) and Nguku (1972).
The big names in the ladies section are defending champion and Woman Fide Master Sasha Mongeli, Woman Candidate Master Joyce Nyaruai and former World Women's Amateur Under-1700 Chess Champion Madelta Glenda.
Sasha is ranked ahead with a rating of 1726, followed by Nyaruai (1699), Gloria Jumba (1591) and Glenda (1565).
To be crowned the 2021 Kenya's finest chess players, both Njoroge and Mongeli had to break sweat as the winners of both sections were decided in play-offs, following a tie at the end of the nine rounds.
Njoroge outwitted Gohil in the open section final.
The two players had tied on eight points setting the stage for the play-offs which were played in both rapid and blitz formats.
Mongeli outsmarted Triza Mwendwa in the “ladies” section play-offs.
"Because of the big prize (car), cash awards and the rivalry, we expect a very stiff competition," said Chess Kenya president Bernard Wanjala, adding that the Mazda Demio Car had arrived in Nairobi from Mombasa.
The second and third place finishers in the Open section will receive Sh 100,000 and 50,000 respectively. The cash award in the open section will be extended to the ninth-place finisher.
In the ladies' section, the runners-up will pocket Sh50,000 while the winners in the Persons Living with Disability Open and Ladies categories will receive Sh5,000 each.
Chief Arbiter Anthony Kionga said they will uphold integrity in the competition.
"We will be on the lookout to ensure professionalism is maintained and the championship is played in line with Fide rules," said Kionga.
