The 2023 Kenya Open gets underway

The 2023 Kenya Open got underway at the Sarit Expo Centre within the iconic Sarit Centre on 6th April 2023. The event, Africa’s most lucrative tournament boasting a purse of USD 42,000 (approximately KES 5.5 million), has seen just over 400 players from 20 federations participating.

The playing hall at the 2023 Kenya Open at the Sarit Centre.

Seven Grandmasters and seven International Masters are hunting for the top prize of KES 1 million (USD 7,600) in the Open Section.

Forget the touristic phrases like ‘swimming with the dolphins‘ or ‘riding the dunes‘ used by the Kenya Tourism Board. Someone can only sum up the experience as ‘swimming with the sharks’!

GM Timur Gareyev of the USA is the top seed with a whopping rating of 2602, with GM Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan second seed with a rating of 2601. Other Grandmasters include GM Nikita Meshkovs of Latvia (2858), GM Pavel Ponkratov of Russia (2580), Sriram Jha of India (2310) and Egyptians GM Hesham Abdelrahman (2411) and GM Fawzy Adham (2495).

The Ugandans, as usual, have turned up in large numbers, with 25 participants in the Open Section and 12 in the Ladies’ Section. IM Arthur Ssegwanyi and his wife Peninah Nakabo are the top-rated players from Uganda in the event.

Kenneth Omolo (2089) and FM Martin Gateri (2045) lead the Kenyan challenge with other top players like CM Ben Magana and Peter Gilruth. The 2022 Kenya National Champion Mehul Gohil and 2021 Kenya National Champion Martin Njoroge are ranked 29th and 42nd, respectively.

GM Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan . — GM Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan.

Ladies Section

The top seed in the Ladies’ Section is WGM Josepfine Heinemann from Germany, rated 2274. The Wafa sisters Shahenda and Shrook from Egypt are second and third in the initial ranking.

WFM Sasha Mongeli and WCM Joyce Nyaruai, ranked 7th and 8th, respectively, will lead Kenya’s challenge in this Section.

The top prize in the Ladies’ Section is KES 500,000 (USD 3,800).

Chess Kenya, in conjunction with Terrian Chess, is the event organiser. The sponsors of the event include Safaricom and KCB Bank.