The 2017 Genocide Memorial Chess tournament held in Kigali, Rwanda from 9th to 11th June 2017 ended with the Ugandan quartet of FM Haruna Nsubuga, Mathias Ssonko, FM Harold Wanyama and Simon Gonza tying for first place after all 4 players ended on 5/6.
The final round saw Mathias Ssonko hold highly fancied FM Haruna Nsubuga to a tough draw on board 1 which allowed FM Harold Wanyama and Simon Gonza to tie with 5 points after their last round wins.
Ugandans occupied the top 9 spots to stamp their dominance in the International Section that attracted a total of 36 players from 5 federations including Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Congo.
The Open Section had 30 players from 6 federations including Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, England and USA.
Uganda’s Ivy Kayesu dominated the Ladies Section with a score of 3/6.
In the Open Section, the Ugandan’s were again dominant with Samuel Were and Ugandan Chess Federation President, Emmanuel Mwaka tying for first place with 5.5/6 each.
Joselyne Uwase from Rwanda scored 4/6 in this section to end as the highest placed female in the section.
Ricky Sang was the only participant from Kenya in the International Section and he ended up with a respectable 3.5/6 to end up in 14th position.
Naftaly Wachira Mwangi was the only Kenyan in the Open section and who obtained an impressive 5 points to end up in joint 2nd place with Rongin Munyurangabo of Rwanda.
The event was boosted by the presence of GM Maurice Ashley who was in the country for the Chess Master’s Africa Tour.
This event is held as a poignant reminder to the dark days of the 1994 Genocide when thousands were brutally killed while the whole of Africa and the world turned a blind eye.
The arbiter of this event was Duke Michieka from Kenya and the event was partially sponsored by the Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa.
Final results are available at http://chess-results.com/tnr281585.aspx?lan
