FM Patrick Kawuma wins Kantinti Memorial
FM Patrick Kawuma won his second event of the year with a fine victory in the Kantinti Memorial Chess Tournament held in Kampala, Uganda. He scored 6.5 points out of 7 rounds to go home with UGX 500,000 (USD 150) as first prize. The victory also give FM Patrick Kawuma valuable Grand Prix points for the Olympiad Qualifiers.
FM Patrick Kawuma first victory of the year was in the 10th Capablanca Cup held in Nairobi, Kenya in early January 2020.
The event held in memory of one of Uganda’s finest players saw just over 70 players taking part. The event ran from 14th to 16th February 2020 at the Nob View Hotel, Ntinda.
This event was the 4th Grand Prix circuit event and 2nd last 2020 Moscow, Russia Olympiad qualifier.
Ritah Nsubuga won the ladies category Shs.200,000 as prize money.
Veteran John Kikonyogo won the +50 years category. He collected 4.5 points from seven games beating Joseph Kaamu Joseph (4) and Francis Obita (0.5) respectively.
FM Haruna Nsubuga v FM Patrick Kawuma
FM Patrick Kawuma v Bob Bibasa
Shadrack Kantinti
Shadrack Kantinti was an 8-time record Olympian for Uganda who passed who passed away in June 2019. He played in 1996, 2000 to 2010 and 2018 editions of the Olympiad. In the 2006 edition, he scored an impressive seven victories out of 13 games.
Bob Bibasa, a close friend, had to say.
‘Kantinti was a very humble guy in real life but a monster on the chessboard. You could not tell when and how he is going to sacrifice because a number of his games culminated with a sacrifice!’
Uganda Open Chess Championship
The next event is the Uganda Open Chess Championship. It is due to take place from 6th to 8th March 2020 at Xanadu Collection All Suites Hotel.
Olympiad Qualifiers
The Uganda Chess Federation uses the Grand Prix system as the first phase of selecting the Olympiad Team. The Grand Prix is made of five events and includes the following for the 2020 Olympiad.
Rwabushenyi Open 2019.
Kireka Open 2019.
Zabasajja Memorial 2020.
Kantinti Memorial
Uganda Open (to be held from 6th to 8th March 2020).
Players accumulate points for each top 15 finishes just like in Formula One.
Twelve players are then selected at the end of the Grand Prix season using their best three performances for each player. A player can afford to miss one or two events, as long as he/she plays the minimum three Grand Prix events.
The 12 players are joined by the Junior Champion(U20) and a Wild Card to make 14 players who then play in the Final Stage which is a single round-robin to select the national team of five players.
The Final Phase will take place over Easter and early May 2020.
The Grand Prix system ensures that players have to be active throughout the year and is flexible enough to cater to diverse needs.
