KCB Chess Club’s Ben Nguku and Woman Fide Master (WFM) Sasha Mongeli will lead the Kenya national team in the hunt for national glory during the upcoming 44th World Chess Olympiad championships to be held in Moscow, Russia in August.
Top five players in the Open Section and ladies’ category of the qualifiers qualified to represent Kenya in the world games.
Nguku bagged seven wins and two draws in the Olympiad qualifiers held at KCB Sports Club over the weekend and lead the Open section with 23 points.
He is followed closely in second place by Joseph Methu, Jackson Kamau, Ben Magana and Ricky Sang all from KCB Chess Club to make the final list of the Kenya national team open category.
In the ladies’ category, Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Joyce Nyaruai of KCB Chess Club and WCM Lucy Wanjiru of Deadly Bishops lead the ladies pack with 23 and 21 points respectively as WFM Sasha Mongeli of Technical University of Kenya followed with 18 points.
Julie Mutisya of Nakuru Chess Club and Glenda Madelta of Nairobi Chess Club close the top five list of qualified female players.
Speaking after the qualifiers, Nguku said he is looking forward to the August games with an aim of winning a medal for Kenya.
“We have to prepare well now ahead of the games after a tough qualifier with the aim of flying the Kenyan flag high. We have a strong team and I believe we will do well since we have a lot of time to prepare well,” he said.
Elsewhere, the 2020 Kenya Chess Premier League (KCPL) kicked off on a high with Nairobi Chess Club edging out Victoria Chess and University of Nairobi Club 4-1 and 3.5-1.5 respectively.
Equity Chess Club saw off Eastlands Chess Club 4-1, Black Knights defeat Victoria Chess Club 3-2 and NACHA Kings losing 3-2 to JKUAT.
Defending champions KCB were not in action as most of their players took part in the 2020 Olympiad Qualifiers.
