8 countries set for East Africa Junior Chess Championships

Players from eight countries will take part in this weekend’s East Africa Junior Chess Championships to be held at Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa.

The three-day tournament starts on Friday and will run through to Sunday. Being the first event in the chess calendar, it has attracted most of the top players who will be looking to test themselves and perhaps correct any weaknesses.

Furthermore, it is also the first Grand Prix event giving players an opportunity to collect points to be in a good position for a national team selection.

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Organisers will pay Ksh5,000 for the winners, Ksh3,000 for the runners-up and Ksh1,000 for the second runners-up.

The event has attracted players from Kenya, Syria, India, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

In the youth category, Christian Mugambi Mwambi is the highest-ranked player with a rating of 1827 and is a favourite to win here.

Mwamba was very impressive at last year’s Africa Junior tournament where he finished with three points despite being the youngest player.

Winning in Mombasa will put him in good stead to do well in the rest of the year.

Uganda’s Tandeka Shiloh is the second-highest-ranked player with a rating of 1751.

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Karamaliew Alibakshs from Tajikistan is ranked fourth behind Kenya’s David Wamwire with Tanzania’s Mikail Walli completing the top five rankings.

Mombasa-based Vyonne Mwashe is the highest-ranked female in the youth category and should have no problem triumphing here with opposition expected from Angela Muthoni and Purity Kyalo.

Danson Kimani another Kenyan leads the rankings in the under-12 category where stiff competition is expected from Uganda’s Aine Atubet, Aarav Gupta from Tanzania and Ali Ahad from Pakistan.

Participants will also compete for honours in the under-6, under-8 and under-10 categories.

After Mombasa, action moves to Eldoret for the Eldoret Open to be held on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 January. It is the second Grand Prix event.