Top names sign for Eldoret Open Chess Tournament
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Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 21.01.25. | 13:56
Kenya’s highest-rated player Kaloki Hawi, who recently signed for KCB, is among the top players who have registered for the tournament
Top names have registered for the first edition of the Eldoret Open Chess Championships set for this weekend at St. Luke Conference Hall.
The two-day tournament, the second Grand Prix event in the Chess Kenya calendar has attracted participants from Kenya, Uganda, and Poland.
The East African Junior Chess Championships held in Mombasa last week was the season opener and the first grand prix tournament.
Kenya’s highest-rated player Kaloki Hawi, who recently signed for KCB, is among the top players who have registered for the tournament.
Hawi is the second highest-rated player in the tournament at 2040.
Uganda’s Mark Nyola is the highest-ranked player at 2082.
Hawi will be using the two-day tournament as preparation for the upcoming World Junior Championships, to be held in Montenegro from 23 February to 8 March.
Kenya will have two representatives in the world event, Hawi and his sister Zuri Kaloki. Both won the National Junior Chess Championships held last year.
Another top player going to Eldoret is Candidate Master (CM) Ben Magana also from KCB.
Former national champion Joseph Methu has also registered and will be hoping for a positive start to the year.
Equity Bank’s Moses Andiwo is the other top player who will be fighting for top honors at the event.
In the ladies category, national champion Sasha Mongeli, Joyce Nyaruai, and Julie Mutisya are among the top names who have registered for the event.
Organizers have put in place a prize fund of Ksh.80,000 for the winners.
The open category winner will pocket Kshs.30,000 with the women winner pocketing Kshs.10,000 and the runners-up Kshs.6,000.
To encourage local players to take part, there is a Kshs.6,000 prize fund for the best Eldoret-based players.
Elsewhere, the second edition of the Mangu High School Chess Championships will also be held this weekend at the school.
Participants will pay Kshs.800. The categories to be competed for include under-7, under-9, under-11, under-13, under-15 and under-17. Trophies and medals will be issued to winners.
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