Africa-Press – Kenya. Chess Kenya president Bernard Wanjala believes the country has what it takes to pull impressive results in the ongoing African Amateur Chess Championships in Mombasa.
The event started over the weekend and will run until December 4.
The event has attracted 15 countries including hosts Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Djibouti, Somalia and South Sudan.
Others are Uganda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Lesotho, Burundi, Zimbabwe and Cameroon. Kenya has the highest number of 34 players out of the 103 participants competing for the top honours.
The Kenyan players include Candidate Master Benjamin Magana, 2021 national women’s national champion Sasha Mongeli and national junior champion Robert Mcligeyo among others.
Wanjala said the team is very much on course and the results are promising.
“We definitely want to win. From how they played in the first and second rounds, the team is doing quite well. We are expecting to capitalize on home-ground advantage,” Wanjala said.
He added that the winners in each category will get a chance to compete in next year’s World Amateur Championships. The categories include the Open sections-U2300, U2000 and U1700 (men); U1700 ( women) and U2300 and U2000 (combined).
“We are hopeful that next year we shall have representatives on the big stage too. The dates for the championship are yet to be confirmed,” he concluded.
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