Kenya hosts historic Zone 4.2
Kenya is the proud host of Zone 4.2 Chess Championship which is taking place in Shaza Beach Hotel, Mombasa.
Team Egypt
Egypt has sent their top guns to the event with the winner winning a coveted spot at the World Cup scheduled for Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia in September. Their impressive line up is made up of the following;
GM Adly Ahmed is the top-ranked player in the tournament with an impressive rating of 2618.
GM El Gindy Essam is ranked second with a rating of 2443.
The third ranked player from Egypt is GM Abdelrahman Hesham with a rating of 2421.
Team Uganda
Uganda has sent some of its top players. IM Arthur Ssegwanyi is their top player is who rated 2353. FM Patrick Kauma and FM Haruna Nsubuga are the other two top players who are rated 2336 and 2213 respectively.
Team Kenya
Peter Gilruth who is rated 2111 is Kenya’s top-ranked player in the event. Mehul Gohil, Mathew Kanegeni, Vasanth Ramesh, and Elvis Likoko will turn out for Kenya.
Joseph Methu who was the winner of the 2019 Kenya Open pulled out at the last minute. CM Ben Magana who is one of Kenya’s most experienced player will also miss the event due to personal commitments.
A total of 40 players are taking part. Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan. Other countries include Tanzania, Uganda and hosts Kenya. The only countries missing from this event are Rwanda and Burundi are the only ones missing from this event.
Ladies Section
The Ladies section has 14 players taking part from 11 federations. WFM Ivy Amoko of Uganda is the top-ranked player with a rating of 1838. WFM Sohayla Abdelmenaem (1837) and Alaa Moaataz (1830) both of Egypt are ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively.
WCM Joyce Nyaurai, Jumba Gloria and WFM Sasha Mongeli are representing Kenya.
New Zonal Structure for Africa
Africa’s zonal structure will change from 1st July 2019. It will now comprise of five zones instead of the current four zones. Madagascar will now join the same group as the current 4.2. Egypt will now move to a different zone with the other North African countries.
