Junior chess stars chase tickets for African showpiece
Pupils from Nakuru during a chess training session on October 16, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Kenya will host the continental showpiece in Nairobi from December 12 to 21.
Junior chess players in Central, Western, Rift Valley and Coast regions will on Saturday battle it out for tickets to the forthcoming African Schools Individual Chess Championships.
Kenya will host the continental showpiece in Nairobi from December 12 to 21.
Chess Kenya said they expect a huge turnout in the qualifiers, where the top three participants in both boy’s and girl’s categories will be awarded with medals.
It will be the first time that Western region is holding its own qualifiers since breaking away from Nyanza.
Nyanza held their qualifiers last weekend at Makini School in Kisumu, with more than 400 players taking part.
In all the regional qualifiers, players are battling it out in six categories, which are: Under-7, Under-8, Under-11, Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17.
Only the top player in each category will progress to the next round of the qualifiers, which will take place on a date yet to be agreed on.
“We expect the qualifiers to be tough because only the winners in each category progress to the next round. Because everyone wants to get that chance to represent the country at the continental level, we expect them to give their best,” said Fide Arbiter Anthony Kionga, who will be in charge of the Western region qualifiers.
Nairobi region will hold their qualifiers during the midterm break.
In the 2020 Africa Schools Individual Chess Championships, which was held online, nine-year-old Elizabeth Cassidy finished first in her category. The grade three pupil at Kitale School also finished second in her category in the Africa Junior Chess Championships held September in Ghana.
