Team Kenya for World Chess Olympiad named

Kenya will be represented at this year’s World Chess Olmpiad in Moscow, Russia by a strong team of five men and five ladies.

Kenya’s representatives at the prestigious event scheduled for August 5 to 18 were revealed last Sunday after the final round of the third Olympiad qualifiers at Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Sports club in Nairobi.

As expected, all top seeds in the ladies category - Joyce Nyaruai, Lucy Wanjiru and Sasha Mongeli - made the cut.

The trio was part of the team that competed in the 2018 Olympiad held in Batumi, Georgia where Kenya finished position 143 out of 185.

KCB Chess Club’s Nyaruai who is also a Woman Candidate Master (WCM) amassed eight points in the 11 rounds played in round-robin format.

Wanjiru, also a WCM and who turns-out for Deadly Bishop Chess Club, emerged second in the ladies event on 7.5 points, while Technical University of Kenya’s Sasha Mongeli closed the medal bracket on 6.5 points.

Coming into this final round of the Olympiad qualifiers, Mongeli was the favourite thanks to her Woman Fide Master (WFM) status. She scored 65 percent of the nine matches in the Batumi Olympiad to be crowned a WFM.

Julie Mutisya of Nakuru Chess Club and Glenda Matelda of Equity Chess Club finished fourth and fifth on 5.5 and five points respectively to book tickets to the Olympiad.

In the men’s category, it was a KCB Chess Club affair, as their players finished inside the top six. Candidate Master and top seed Ben Magana garnered 6.5points to finish fourth and qualify for his sixth consecutive Olympiad.

“I was expecting to qualify though it was a tough match. My target in this year’s Olympiad is to better my score and get a title,” said Magana.

Gohil Mogul was the biggest casualty in the final round of qualifiers, as he missed out on an Olympiad ticket after finishing a disappointing seventh on four points only.

Ben Nguku topped the men's standings on eight points.

Joseph Maragu, Jackson Kamau and Ricky Sang, who garnered seven, 6.5 and six points respectively are the other players, who clinched tickets to represent Kenya in the prestigious event.

Chess Kenya is expected to select a coach and captain for the team in preparation for the big event. Chess Kenya Secretary General John Mukabi tipped Kenya to perform better at this year’s competition.

“That team has gone through a tough competition from December last year and they are the best. We should do better this time around,” said Mukabi.