Top seed Mark Nyolla Wasswa and Elizabeth Cassidy were crowned the champions of the Chess Kenya Uasin Gishu County Association Open Champions; one of the national Granprix events was staged at the St Luke’s Hospital Hall in Eldoret over the weekend.
The Ugandan Wasswa completed the tournament unbeaten following his final victory against Kenya’s top seed Hawi Kaloki in a final play to win the title.
With all players completing their matches earlier, the final match between Kaloki and Wasswa attracted spectators, to witness the winner in the hotly contested game.
Following the victory, Wasswa said that the two day tournament that started on Saturday to Sunday was very tough but managed to conquer his opponents.
“Victory here was not easy but I had to learn on how to conquer my opponents. Playing Kaloki, who is very strong, he was weak when it came to end games that are how I overplayed him,” said Wasswa who added that Chess in Uganda is stronger than Kenya.
Thirteen year old Cassidy from Kitale Progressive School won the ladies section.
“I’m happy for the victory because it helps me to identify mistakes. We had tough players but I am happy that I am here. Coming here, I knew the tournament was going to be very tough because Chess in Kenya has really improved so I had to prepare well,” said Cassidy.
Mixing school and Chess, she said that her training has not been that intense. “Since I am a pre-candidate, I put studies first before chess, which is not that easy.”
Chess Kenya vice president Andrew Owili, was on record that the Eldoret tournament was very impressive following the large tournament in the Open section with 139 players facing off.
“We are proud that we are spreading Chess Across the country through counties, and attracting large number of participants. Such events assist us spread the game. As Chess Kenya we seriously spread the sport in counties to promote the game especially among the kids,” said owili.
Event organizer Faith Leting, who also serves as Uasin Gishu chairperson and regional coordinator in North rift, said the return of the tournament to the region is an eye opener for the game lovers.
“This is the first tournament since 2018, attracting five nations led by the hosts Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan among others. We had a good number in the open with 139 then 32 ladies with a big number in juniors,” said Leting.
“We have to spread the sport in the region because Chess is silent. We want people to embrace the support in the region through sensitization,” she said