The 2016 Tanzania Open came to a dramatic end last night when IM Arthur Ssegwanyi defeated IM Gillan Bwalya from Zambia in the last round to grab the winner’s trophy with an impressive 5/6.
Tournament favourite and title holder IM Elijah Emojong 2339 was the sole leader after 5 rounds with a clean 5/5 and only needed a draw to win the event. His last round opponent was 6th seed Zambian Kela Kaulule 2166 who upset the apple cart when he defeated IM Elijah Emojong.
At the end of the day there was a 3 way tie for first at the top of the Open section with IM Arthur Ssegwanyi, IM Elijah Emojong and Kela Kaulule with 5/6 and who shared equally the TZS 1,600,000 (USD 750).
WCM Christine Namaganda from Uganda scored 2.5/6 to win the Ladies section while a one day Junior event which saw 28 youngsters take part in a separate 8 round tournament. This junior event was won by George Aaron who just beat out Charles Cleophas on tie-break after both scored an impressive 7/8.
Navini Choudary scored a very impressive 6/8 to win the best girls prize and also placed 3rd overall. Navini Choudary is the daughter of Tanzania Chess Foundation President Vinay Choudary and has featured on this website a few months ago. See story – Navini Chaudary at the 2016 Baku Olympiad.
The top placed Kenyan was Githinji Hinga with an impressive 3.5/6 to end up in 10th position.
I am mystified as to why only 2 Kenyans attended this event. This was a world class event with some of Africa’s finest players in attendance. The bus ticket costs KES 3,500 (USD 35) one way so it is not out of reach for many Kenyan players. This was a great opportunity for Kenyan players to interact with the strong Zambian players.
We are only able to bring you one game from this event.
