Kenyan players struggle at World Youth Chess Championships
Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 15.10.25. | 21:14
Meanwhile, the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Open tournament starts on Friday with a record 300 players expected to take part
After eight rounds of the World Youth Chess Championships, currently going on in Albania, players from Eastern Europe and Asia remain dominant in the various categories.
Kenyan players, who missed two rounds after arriving late for the competition, have displayed surprising resilience though they remain ranked in the lower reaches of their categories.
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In the girls under-14 category, Kisumu based Shukri Shakirah, who is rated 1708, lies in the 77th position after picking 3.5 points. The event has attracted 107 players.
Woman Fide Master (WFM) Vera Vujovic from Serbia leads in this category with seven points.
The Serbian remains unbeaten in seven matches.
In second place is another WFM Jemaicah Mendoza from the Philippines.
She is rated 1943, having picked 6.5 points after drawing one of her matches.
Saadat Bashirli from Azerbaijan completes the top three ranking also with 6.5pts.
In the under-14 Open category, Christian Mugambi is in number 107 out of 149 players.
International Master (IM) Hoachen Jiang from China is the highest rated player in this category with a rating of 2457 and leads with seven points.
He is followed by Mark Simimov from Kazakhstan, who has collected 6.5pts.
In the under-16 girls category, Kenyan Genevieve MKenyan, with a rating of 1644,is in position 97 out of 113 players.
She has so far collected three points.
Diana Khafizova from Russia leads with 7.5pts, followed by Chinese Yining Chen with 6.5 points.
She is tied with Polish Wiktoria Smietanska on the same number of points.
The tournament has attracted 711 players from 83 countries.
Kenya, with eight players, is among the six African countries taking part in the event.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Open tournament starts on Friday with a record 300 players expected to take part.
The three day event is part of the Chess Kenya grand prix event and has a prize fund of Kshs 800,000.
