Samuel Gai Ngong clinches 2024 Nakuru Open
Samuel Gai Ngong was the proud winner of the 2024 Nakuru Open Chess Tournament. He scored 5.5 points out of the six rounds to go home with KES 30,000 (USD 220). Hot on his heels were Alan Chumba and Jadon Simiyu, who scored 5 points each, with each going home with KES 15,000.
Alan Chumba, however, took the silver medal as he had a superior tie-break.
The Open Section saw 42 contestants battling it out at the Cool Rivers Hotel in downtown Nakuru over the weekend of 2nd & 3rd November 2024.
Game Corner
Ladies Section
WFM Sasha Mongeli, on the other hand, won the Ladies Section with 5.5 points out of six rounds. She went home with KES 25,000.
WCM Jully Mutisya was second with 4.5 points and won a cash prize of KES 10,000.
The Ladies Section had 16 participants.
U1700 Section
The U1700 Section was equally exciting, with Mark Nyairo returning from early retirement to win the section with a perfect score of 6 points out of six rounds and win KES 6,000.
This section had a total of 20 players.
Junior Section
The Junior Section had 88 players with separate age groups.
Event Poster
Past winners of the Nakuru Open
2005 – Ben Nguku
2006 – Kenneth Omolo
2007 – CM Ben Magana
2008 – Nathan Ateka
2009 – FM Steve Ouma
2010 – Ben Nguku
2016 – James Panchol
2018 – James Panchol
2021 – CM Ben Magana
Interesting facts about Nakuru
Nakuru is Kenya’s 4th largest urban centre with a population of 570,674. It is the capital of Nakuru County and is approximately about 170 km NW of Nairobi.
Nakuru means ‘Dust or Dusty Place‘ in the Maasai language.
Nakuru is home to Lake Nakuru, one of the Rift Valley soda lakes, which forms part of the Lake Nakuru National Park. The park has large numbers of flamingoes that can be seen foraging in the shallow lake.
Nakuru is a sister city to East Orange in New Jersey, USA.
Links
2024 Nakuru Open Chess Tournament on chess-results.com.
Photo Album of the 2024 Nakuru Open by Elias Cheruiyot.
CM Ben Magana wins 2021 Nakuru Open.
Standing & Results of the 2021 Nakuru Open.
James Panchol wins 2018 Nakuru Open (Hotel Kunste).
James Panchol wins 2106 Nakuru Open (Rift Valley Open).
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Article by Kenya Chess Masala.