Tuesday October 22, 2019
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Aguda Lwanga in action during a Kenya National Chess League match on November 18, 2018 at The Luke Hotel, Nairobi.Image: Consolata Makokha
Kenya has been granted the hosting rights for the Zone 4.4 Youth Under 16 Team Chess Championships 2019, between December 5 and 12 at the Luke Hotel, Nairobi.
Chess Kenya successfully staged this same event in 2017 in Mombasa where the winning team qualified for the World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad held in Ahmedabad, India in 2018.
This year’s event will mark the first championship ever since the new Africa FIDE Zones were installed in June 2019. Previously, Kenya belonged to Zone 4.2. The tournament will bring together players from 14 countries including the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
CK president Benard Wanjala said his federation is ready to host the event and ensure it’s a huge success.
“Official invitation letters to all member countries of the Zone were sent a week ago and we already got positive feedback from several countries interested to field their players,” noted Wanjala.
The winning team will automatically qualify to the World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad. Kenya, as the host country, can enter a maximum of five teams. Kenya’s quota puts them at a vintage position to triumph but Wanjala was quick to note that Madagascar, South Sudan and Uganda may offer tight opposition.