It was a field day for Uganda at the 40th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey as the ladies team whipped Fiji 4-0 and the men hammered Cyprus 2.5-1.5 in the third round played on Thursday 30th August 2012.
In the ladies category, Uganda’s Grace Kigeni, Ivy Amoko, Goretti Angolikin and Phiona Mutesi beat Fiji’s FIDE Master Lyons Kieran (rated 1825), Gloria Sukhu (rated 1528), Hilda Vukikomoola and Cydel Teruben respectively.
Mutesi and Angolikin grabbed their opponents in the opening and gave them absolutely no chance for recovery while Amoko who had the White pieces attacked her opponent with verve and accurate precision in the Sicilian Accelerated Dragon variation until she forced her into submission.
On her part, Kigeni was perhaps the happiest of them all after pulling off a historic record win against a higher ranked FM with the Black pieces on board one. The win will be vital in contributing towards Kigeni’s attainment of an international rating.
Currently, Amoko is the only Ugandan lady with an international rating (1705). In the male category, Harold Wanyama quickly worked on his opponent Stelios Lazaris (rated 1827) while CM Patrick Kawuma put in a stellar performance to outwit Cyprus’ board one Meles Renes (rated 2108).
CM Bob Bibasa who was playing his first game at this year’s Olympiad had a better game that could have resulted into a win but rightly opted for caution and offered his opponent CM Antoniou Antonis (rated 2205) a draw to ensure that Uganda wins the tie 2.5-1.5 after FM Elijah Emojong suffered his first loss at the tournament at the hands of Cyprus’ Pavlos Constantinou (rated 2064).
The win for the men was the second in three matches and put Uganda in an incredible 53rd position out of 161 participating countries, several places above the current world ranking of 107. In the fourth round, the Ugandan men will be up against very tough opposition in IPCA which boasts of three International Masters. While the ladies take on Scotland.<