Mombasa gears up for continental chess event

Mehul Gohil of Nairobi chess club in past action. [Washington Onyango,Standard]

Kenya's multiple chess champion Mehul Gohil will be among Africa's top players set to battle for the top honors during the Africa Amateur Individual Chess championships slated for Mombasa.

Kenya Chess Federation Chairman Bernard Wanjala said the continent's top players will be in action at the Mombasa Intercontinental Beach Hotel from November 26 to December 4.

As a result, Wanjala has appealed to corporate companies and the Mombasa County government to come on board and support the event.

"We shall have over 500 people including players in Mombasa for the tournament and we believe this will be a good way for Mombasa County to market the coastal town through the championships," said Wanjala adding that over 15 countries are expected to take part in the championships.

The hosts are expected to face stiff competition from Egyptian players who have been dominating the championships in the previous competitions.

Amin Bassem, Adly Ahmed and Hesham Abdelrahman all of Egypt have been the top players and are expected in Mombasa to extend their dominance.

The trio participated in the 2022 Africa Individual Championships held in Lagos, Nigeria last month and are looking forward to an excellent show in Mombasa.

Due to budgetary constraints, Kenya did not send players to the Lagos Championships but they managed to travel to Mombasa for the Mombasa Open chess tournament that Mehul Gohil won.

Apart from Gohil, Paul Oketch also expected to be in the Kenyan team.