Jadon Simiyu finishes surprise third at Nakuru Open Chess Championship
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Reading Time: 2min | Mon. 04.11.24. | 14:44
To finish third, Simiyu upset national team player Ian Mutuge in the last of the six-round matches to finish in third position with five points
Teenager Jadon Simiyu finished a surprise third in the Nakuru Open Chess Championship which came to an end on Sunday.
Simiyu is also the African Champion in the under-12 category after being crowned in South Africa six months ago.
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To finish third, Simiyu upset national team player Ian Mutuge in the last of the six-round matches to finish in third position with five points.
Going into the last match, Mutuge who was the highest rated player in the open event at 1933 had a chance to win the event by winning the last match.
But Simiyu rated 1784 emerged victorious, denying Mutuge a podium finish and collecting the Ksh15,000 that was on offer for third place.
Samuel Ngong Gai from Black Knights was the winner of the Open category after he collected 5.5 points.
Going into the last match the 1910 rated Gai faced off with Agoot Abuk Agoot who is rated 1882 and they all had 4.5 points. A win for either of them would have guaranteed them a win.
In the end, Gai prevailed and collected Ksh30,000. Allan Chumba was the runner-up after collecting five points. Chumba ensured his podium finish by winning his last match against Hugh Misikho from Equity Bank.
The highly rated Mutuge had to settle for seventh position. Sasha Mongeli hung on to win the ladies category despite drawing her last match against Julie Mutisya. In the end, Mongeli finished at the top of the log with 5.5 points and was followed by Mutisya who had 4.5 points.
Shilali Grace and Kimani Wanjiru shared the third position with four points each. Mark Nyairo had a good run and won the under-17 category with maximum points.
Nyairo from Strathmore University was playing his first tournament this year and had been at the top of the log since the event started. James Maina and Leonard Mwanza all got 4.5 points to finish in joint second.
Jayne Awuor won the under-7 category while Jasmine Aaliyah claimed the under-9 category with Imela Abigaella was the under-11 winner.
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