2016 Baku Olympiad Qualifiers
The past 2 weekends of 11th-12th June & 17th-19th June 2016 saw intense chess action at the KCB Club, Ruaraka, Nairobi during the ongoing 2016 Baku Olympiad Qualifiers. This event was to select the final team of 5 players from the Open and the Ladies section to represent Kenya.
I bring you some photos and games from this event.
One of the key games was the highly anticipated encounter between 2015 Kenya National Champion, Kenneth Omolo and Mehul Gohil who had announced that he was going to win this event.
Mehul Gohil v Kenneth Omolo
Junior players
This event had two junior players Martin Njoroge and Timothy Omondi in action. Both had to face baptism by fire and ended up with 3 and 1.5 points respectively. I expect these two players to grow in stature and be key contenders to make it to the 2018 Kenya Olympiad Team.
Mehul Gohil’s attempt to win this event hit a hidden speed bump when he had to forfeit his game against Jackson Kamau due to work commitments. To make matters even worse for him was his unexpected loss to Ricky Sang to see his dream of winning the event go up in smoke!
In the last round Mehul Gohil had to face the new kid on the block Joseph Methu who also had 5.5 points which meant that this was a key and crucial game.
Mehul Gohil v Joseph Methu
The winner of this event was CM Ben Magana who put up a fine performance with 7.5/9 with 6 wins and 3 draws.
CM Benjamin Magana v Jackson Ndegwa
Final standing
This was the final standing in the Open section with the top 5 players qualifying to be in the team.
A report on the Ladies Section has also been prepared.
Links
Games from the 2nd Phase Olympiad Qualifiers.
