Kenyan Chess Champions in India
CM Ben Magana & WCM Joyce Nyaurai who are the current Kenyan Chess Champions have just returned from India.
They took part in the prestigious Commonwealth Chess Championship which ran from 26th June to 3rd July 2018.
The pair were sponsored by Chess Kenya as part of their incentive to ensure National Champions have at least one international assignment.
The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Maharaja Surajmal Marg, Delhi was the venue for the event. The time control was 90 minutes plus 30 seconds to complete the game with 9 rounds in total.
This strong event was run over 15 sections and had almost 740 players from 12 federations. Africa was represented by Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Kenya.
South Africa
South Africa were even more impressive with the largest contingent from Africa with 52 players! IM Watu Kobese was the top player in the South African contingent.
WFM Christine Namaganda was Uganda’s representative.
CM Ben Magana ended up with a respectable 4.5 points while WFM Joyce Nyaruai obtained 3 points.
WFM Christine Namaganda’s trip was sponsored by The Indian Association of Uganda & Baboon Adventures. She obtained 3.5 points.
The top South African player was FM Calvin Klaasen who obtained 6 points.
V Vishnu Prasanna v CM Ben Magana
The overall winner of the event was IM P Karthikeyan of India who obtained 7.5 points who collected KES 225,000 (USD 2,250). The charming IM Tania Sachdev was the winner of the Ladies section.
The overall prize fund of this event was a massive KES 1,500,000 (USD 15,000).
Closing ceremony
The colourful closing ceremony was attended by Mr DV Sundar, Vice President FIDE, and Mr Bharat Singh Chauhan, President Commonwealth Chess Association & Secretary All India Chess Federation. Others included renown author GM Jacob Aagaard, and Mr SK Verma who is a Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India.
Links
2017 Commonwealth Chess Championship.
P Karthikeyan & Tania Sachdev win 2018 Commonwealth Chess Championship.
