Mention South Sudan to anyone and the first thing that comes to mind is the political turmoil that has engulfed this small nation that became independent on 9th July 2011.
Kenya has a number of very strong players from South Sudan and these include James Panchol, Peter Diing and many others.
We are fortunate that Kenya’s top ranked players Peter Gilruth recently visited Juba, South Sudan where he met up with some chess players.
He send me a short email which is shown below;
“Just a note to let you know that we held a tournament here in Juba last night (21st April 2017) with 8 players and others trying to get in. The time control was G-10 and it was held at the Quality Hotel. I sponsored a prize fund of USD 20.00 for 1st, USD 10.00 for 2nd, and USD 5.00 for 3rd.
Mr. Deng Cypriano (represented South Sudan in the 2016 Baku Olympiad) won the Rapids with a score of 6-0 and I struggled to get 4th place at 3-3.“
The South Sudan Chess Federation was informally set up in 2007 and then registered in 2012 and became a full FIDE member during the 2016 Baku Olympiad.
Despite their political turmoil Juba has a number of chess clubs which are fairly active.
1. Shirikat-Gumbo Chess Club
2. Munuki Chess Club
3. Lologo Chess Club
4. Hai-Thoura Chess Club
2. Munuki Chess Club
3. Lologo Chess Club
4. Hai-Thoura Chess Club
5. Jebel Chess Club
South Sudan’s highest ranked player is Michael Deng Khor Kuol at 2057.