IM Ssegwanyi wins 5th Kireka Open Chess Championship
IM Ssegwanyi cruised to a comfortable win at the 2021 Kireka Open with 7.5 points out of 8 rounds. He was undefeated and drew only one game against Emmanuel Musasizi. IM Arthur Ssegwany has won this event three times (2016, 2019 and 2021) out of the five editions with this victory. He went home with UGX 1,000,000 (approximately USD 300) out of a total cash prize of UGX 4,050,000 (USD 1,200).
IM Arthur Ssegwanyi is Uganda’s top-ranked player at 2409. He has also participated in two editions of the FIDE World Cup.
Gong Thon Gong of South Sudan, Julius Ssali and Emmanuel Egesa were joint runners-up with 6.5 points each. However, Gong Thon Gong had a better tie-break to grab the second slot.
The eight-round tournament ran from 28th to 31st December 2021. The tournament was the second Grand Prix event to select the team for the 2022 Moscow Olympiad.
The other Grand Prix events include the Kantinti Memorial (Feb 2022), Zabassajja Memorial (Mar 2022) and the Uganda Open (Apr 2022). The first Grand Prix event was the 2021 Rwabushneyi Memorial won by FM Haruna Nsubuga and held in early December 2021.
South Sudan & Somalia
Nine players from South Sudan and one player from Somalia took part in the event to add an international dimension. No Kenyan player took part in this year’s edition.
A total of just over 100 players took part in the Open section and another 40 in the Junior section.
Sharif Wasswa Maziira
An interesting participant was Sharif Wasswa Maziira, who obtained 3.5 points. He won a silver medal at the 3rd edition of the FIDE World Junior Chess Championship for the Disabled held in July 2019.
The event is organised by Kireka Chess Club under the auspices of the Uganda Chess Federation.
Past winners
2018 – 3rd edition – Solomon Lubega
2017 – 2nd edition – FM Harold Wanyama
2016 – 1st edition – IM Arthur Ssegwanyi
Links
5th Kireka Open Chess Championship on chess-results.com.
IM Arthur Ssegwanyi wins 4th Kireka Open.
Solomon Lubega wins 3rd Kireka Open.
