Why Kenya's top rated chess player will play less tournaments in 2026

Kenya’s top rated chess player Kaloki Hawi has revealed that a tight school schedule will force him to cut down on the number of tournaments this year.

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Hawi will be undertaking the year 13 International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations in May and wants to spend more time preparing.

“It is a busy year for me when you factor in the up-coming examinations. Therefore, I will be forced to play sparingly,” said Kaloki who at 2165,is the highest rated Kenyan player.

Consequently, Hawi will miss the up-coming Eldoret Open tournament, the first Grand Prix event in this year’s Chess Kenya calendar.

The event will be held on 7-8 February at St.Luke’s Conference Hall and has a prize fund of Kshs 116,000.

“My team KCB will take part in the event but being a busy time for me in school, I will skip this event, as it is coming too early when schools have just opened,” he said.

He will also miss the Kenya Open international to be held during the Easter holidays, the Kericho Open and Kiambu Open as the events will coincide with his examinations.

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Hawi believes his decision to skip the tournaments this year will not affect his rating.

“I will still find time to play in some events and also maintain my strong training regime so that it does not affect my high ratings,” he said.

This is the second year in a row that Hawi is starting the year as the country’s highest rated player.

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At the beginning of last year he was also at the top with a rating of 2040.

He is the current national under-18 champion and won all his league games while playing for Mavens Chess Club on board four in last year’s national league, a factor that immensely contributed to his current rating.

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Apart from being the highest rated player, Kaloki is also part of the Kenya’s Chess Olympiad team that will take part in this year’s tournament to be held in Uzbekistan from 15-28 September.

“It is a great honor to have made it to the Olympiad team finally. We have a very young side and so the expectations are high. We hope to live upto the challenge,” he remarked.

Apart from Hawi, other members of the team are: Kyle Kuka, Ben Magana, Robert Macligeyo and Jadon Simiyu.