Baku – 2016 Olympiad! Oh how we all want to be there
Mention the city of Baku (‘City of Winds‘) to any chess player and our greatest hero – Garry Kasparov (Garik Kimovich Weinstein) springs to mind. He was born in Baku, Azerbaijan on 13th April 1963.
Garry visited Nairobi in July 2014, and that story is covered elsewhere on this blog. See photo below of Garry at the famous Sikh Union Club.
Mention Baku to Kenyan chess players and it brings the 2016 Chess Olympiad into sharp focus. The Olympiad is due to be held in the first two weeks of September 2016. This Olympiad is no different from the many that Kenya has attended and has already generated a huge buzz on social media.
Current qualification system
Kenya has one of the most ancient and torturous routes to chose a team. It is a 3 phase system which is all played in Nairobi. In the first phase usually 24 players go through and then in the 2nd phase 16 or so and then the final 10 who play a Round Robin. Miss the 1st phase due to sickness or anything else and you are dust.
This system is just pathetic and is designed to get a Nairobi Team rather than a true Kenya Team. If you live out of Nairobi then you need to travel 3 times to Nairobi to play. If you are working you need to travel on a Thursday night to be fresh for the event on Saturday morning and then travel back on Sunday night and be a zombie on Monday morning when you reach your office. The system is designed to make you upcountry players tough by making them do this 3 times before they even get onto the plane.
Last phase 10 player round robin
The last phase of a 10 players round robin is another disaster. This is where players try to negotiate their way to the top 5 and of course you will see some tough games but in the end you need to know which battles to fight.
This is what is proposed and of course there is a huge uproar from certain sections of chess players. That post by CM Ben Magana has currently over 350 Likes.
Proposed changes
2016 Istanbul Olympiad








Mehul Gohil’s poem on Kasparov
Before we go to the details here is Mehul Gohil’s poem for our hero Garry Kasparov.
The proposed Grand Prix format for 2016 Olympiad qualifiers.
MEN:
It is proposed to have between 6-8 classical chess events between now (4th Sept 2015) and May 1st 2016. Out of these events, a player’s top 3 events will be considered for purposes of Grand Prix qualification to the Olympiad Team.
Minimum requirements for Grand Prix events
Direct qualification from Grand Prix
Kenyans in the Diaspora
Grand Prix Final
WOMEN:
GP EVENTS FOR 2015:
Daystar Open
Mombasa Open
Bungoma Open
Nationals 2015/16
TENTATIVE GP EVENTS FOR 2016:
Nairobi Open
Kisumu Open
Kiambu Open