Top guns arrive for Mavens International Chess Tournament
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Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 18.03.26. | 14:22
The winner in the men’s category will walk away with Ksh750,000, making it the richest chess tournament being held this year
Namibian International Master (IM) Dante Beukes has jetted into the country for the Mavens International Chess Tournament that starts on Thursday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
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He is one of the high-profile players who will take part in the multi-million-shilling event, which has an impressive Ksh2 million prize fund.
The winner in the men’s category will walk away with Ksh750,000, making it the richest chess tournament being held this year.
Beukes is a four-time African champion and achieved the IM title in 2020. He is the current Namibian national champion, an award he won one month ago in Windhoek.
Uganda International Master Arthur Ssengwanye and his compatriot FIDE Master Harold Wanyama have arrived for the event.
The rest of the international participants, including three Grand Masters, were expected to arrive on Wednesday evening.
Ukraine-based GM Bernadskiy Vitaliy is among those expected to turn up for the event. With a rating of 2514, he remains the highest-rated player.
Czech Republic’s Plat Vojtech, with a rating of 2457 and Hungary’s Czebe Attila are the other Grand Masters who have also registered for the event.
Other International Masters who have registered for the event are Silva David from Angola and Andrew Kayonde from Zambia.
Runners-up in the open category will earn Ksh150,000, with the third-placed player pocketing Ksh50,000.
In the ladies’ category, the winner will pocket Ksh150,000 while the runners-up earn Ksh70,000 and the third-placed gets Ksh30,000.
There will also be prizes for the Best University players in both the Open and Ladies categories as well as People Living with Disabilities.
A junior category of the event will be held on Saturday, 21 March, with special prizes issued to the winners.
Elsewhere, Chess Kenya has announced that the Kenya National Youth Chess Championships will be held from Thursday, 2 to Tuesday, 7 April, at Mangu High School.
A total of 7,000 players will take part in the five-day event that will be used to pick Kenya’s team for the Africa Chess Championships to be held in Uganda in May.