Kenyans pick wins at World Cadets Chess Championships hours after arriving in Italy

Kayden Sankau Oloitiptip beat Chinese Lin Mingchen in the sixth round of the World Cadets Chess Championships in Italy.

Despite arriving hours before his match, Oloititip made light work of his Chinese opponent, winning the under-10 game in less than 40 moves.

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The Kenyan was among 17 players who had been denied visas by the Italian embassy but were later awarded after a strong appeal launched by Chess Kenya, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Sports.

By the time he arrived in Italy, all the others had played five games and with six more matches to go, the Kenyan player is confident to finish in a respectable position.

Jayden Kihuria another Kenyan also won his game against fellow Kenyan Lesan Kestima.

In the under-12 category, African champion Jadon Simiyu picked his third point after he brought down Gokce Aras from Turkey.

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Simiyu who won the African Youth Chess Championships in South Africa in June remains the highest-ranked Kenyan in this category as he picked three points out of six matches.

In another match in this category, Harold Kagwe drew with Mihajlovic Stefan from Hungary. Geoffrey Gitonga won his match against fellow Kenyan Daniel Mutune. Rassoa Zeruiah lost to Mushila Ayan in an all-Kenyan affair match.

Jewel Hawi won her under-12 match against Rachel Amor while Jasmine Kiganya went down to Yang Hanguan from Korea.

Zawadi Mugo playing in the under-10 category found the going tough against Hungary’s Kiss Nillo.

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Elsewhere, the Chess Kenya federation has asked players interested in taking part in the upcoming Africa Schools Chess Championships in Ghana to register.

The tournament will be held from Saturday 12 to Saturday 21 December in Accra and will feature players from all 52 African countries.

The federation said only players who got seven points during last year’s qualifiers held in Nakuru are eligible to take part.

This is the first time the event is being held after a two-year absence.