Atwoli wins Masaku Open
Atwoli wins Masaku Open in fine style. He scored 5.5 points out of 6 rounds to win the event.
Joseph Methu & Mehul Gohil also obtained 5.5 points but had a lower tie break. Atwoli, Methu & Gohil shared a total KES 53,000 (USD 530). The total prize fund was a whopping KES 95,000 (USD 950) making it one of the wealthiest tournaments this year.
Gelian Hotel was the venue for this prestigious event which had a time control of 60 minutes.
Sixty-four players took part in the event which had a time control of 60 minutes. An interesting observation was that this event attracted many players from Machakos Boys High School, Muvuti Boys High School. For many of these young players, this would be their first ever chess tournament.
Gelian Hotel which is one of the top hotels in the region was a sponsor of the event. Winnie Thitu was the chief organiser & sponsor of the tournament. She now joins an elite band of highly dedicated chess organisers who help Kenyan chess to blossom.
Sights of Machakos
Fun facts about Machakos
Machakos is also known as Masaku.
Machakos was established in 1887 by Sakshi Shah, ten years before Nairobi.
Nairobi became the capital in 1899 when Machakos was by-passed by the Uganda Railway.
Machakos was the first administrative centre for the British Colony.
Machakos is technically the oldest administrative municipality in the east and central Africa.
Paul Ngei & Mulu Mutisya are some of the well known political personalities from the region.
Machakos has a population of around 150,000 people.
Masaku wa Munyati was an Akamba chief who arrived in the area in 1816 from the area around Sultan Hamud. Masaku (Machakos) town is named after him.
Machakos is located 63 kilometres southeast of Nairobi and is the capital of Machakos County.
Kaloleni near Ngelani is famous for “water flowing against gravity”. It is on Kituluni Hill, a spot known as Kya Mwilu.
Machakos was the venue of Sudan related peace talks which resulted in the Machakos Protocol on 20 July 2002.
Links
Ben Nguku wins 2018 Machakos Open.
