Robert Oluka Mcligeyo clinches 2024 Kenya Championship title

Robert Oluka Mcligeyo, the 19-year-old star, clinched the coveted 2024 Kenya National Chess Championship title plus the keys to a new Nissan Note car worth KES 1.8 million. He scored a total of 8 points out of the nine-round event.

Jackson Kamau was second with 7.5 points to go home with KES 120,000 (USD 1,000).

The hotly contested nine-round event at the Makini School in Nairobi saw just over 190 participants battling for top honours, with a total cash prize fund of KES 256,000 plus a Nissan Note car.

The event, which attracted enormous interest in the African social media platforms, had several upsets along the way.

Jackson Kamau in action. Photo credit Kim Bhari.

Joseph Methu – so close yet so far

The Defending Champion, Joseph Methu, stumbled in the earlier rounds with three consecutive draws against CM Aguda Lwaga (3rd round), Jamie Obora (4th round) and Trevor Mulindi (5th round).

In round nine, he faced his former student and eventual winner, Robert Mcligeyo, in a crunch match. A victory over his former student and draws on boards two and three would mean Joseph would be the proud winner of his second car. It was not to be. Robert Mcligeyo won the thrilling four-hour game to win the coveted title.

Former Champions – running out of steam

At the mid-way stage, top seed CM Ben Magana, a 3 time National Champion (2006, 2013 & 2017), was firmly on the way to winning the event and his fourth title. His hope, however, went up in smoke with consecutive losses to Brian Gabriel Mwangi in round six and then to Jackson Kamau in round seven. CM Ben Magana lost in the final ninth round to Lawrence Kagambi and ended up with six points and 17th in the ranking.

Mehul Gohil, the three-time National Champion and winner of two motor vehicles (2019 & 2022) found the going tough with a draw in round four against Alan Chumba. He then suffered a loss in round five to CM Aguda Lwanga, then to Brian Gabriel Mwangi in round eight and then to Bryan Taboso in round nine.

2021 Kenya National Champion Martin Njoroge stumbled in round two to a painful loss to Caleb Marani and then to Hillary Sagwa in round four to see his hopes go up in smoke. He ended the event with 6.5 points and thirteenth in the ranking.

CM Ben Magana in action. Photo credit Kim Bhari.

The rise and rise of the youngsters!

At the end of day three, CM Aguda Lwanga led the event with 6.5 points out of the seven rounds. However, the stress of the gruelling event took a toll on him, and he lost two consecutive games the next day against Robert Mcligeyo and Joseph Methu, ending up with 6.5 points and 10th in the ranking. It was an impressive performance for the young 18-year-old lad.

Jadon Simiyu, the talented twelve-year-old youngster from Nakuru, deserves special mention. He scored an impressive seven points to end up joint third third and fifth in the overall ranking and will be a name to watch next year. He won gold in the U12 Section at the 2024 African Youth Chess Championship in Gauteng, South Africa.

Robert Oluka Mcligeyo. CM Aguda Lwanga who was leading at the end of round seven. Photo credit Kim Bhari. — CM Aguda Lwanga who was leading at the end of round seven. Photo credit Kim Bhari.

Ladies Section

The Ladies Section was an equally hotly contested event with seventy-three participants competing over nine rounds for a total cash prize of KES 190,000 (USD 1,3000).

Once the dust had settled after nine rounds, there was a four-way tie for first place with Madelta Glenda, Gloria Jumba, WCM Jully Mutisya and defending Champion WFM Sasha Mongeli. The four contestants then played a round-robin event with a time control of 15 minutes and 10 seconds.

This time, WFM Sasha Mongeli won the event with 2.5 points to retain her title and go home with KES 100,000 as the top prize.

Madelta Glenda took the silver with two points to win KES 50,000, while WCM Jully Mutisya took the bronze and KES 25,000 as the cash prize.