With four men’s slots to the Chess Olympiad already sealed following the qualification of International Master (IM) Arthur Ssegwanyi, Walter Okas, two Fide Masters (FM) Patrick Kawuma and Harold Wanyama, competition turns to the last place.
Seasoned chess challengers Karim Fauza Fauza Kizza and Simon Gonza have a realistic chance of joining the Holy Grail.
Fauza pulled off a spectacular draw against Fide Master (F.M) Patrick Kawuma in the 9th round of the ongoing Qualifiers.
He later beat Richard Kato in the 10th round, which put him on the brink of qualification with a round to spare at Pope Paul Memorial Hotel.
He now has 5.5 points out of 10, half a point ahead of closest challenger, Simon Gonza, who lost to Edgar Ntende in the 9th round before defeating Emma Mwaka in the subsequent 10th.
Fauza has the best chance of qualification, but still has to negotiate a tricky tie against Walter Okas in the last round.
His rival for the slot, Gonza takes on Bob Bibasa. While Okas has already qualified, he has rating points to think about in his game against a lower rated Fauza.
Ladies:
The ladies team has already taken shape with a round to spare.
Woman Fide Master (WFM) Christine Namaganda was the last to qualify after beating Winnie Okoth in a decisive 9th round.
She now has 7 points and in a comfortable fifth position, two points ahead of the closest challenger, which implies that even a loss in the last round would have no impact on the table standings.
The others on the team are WFM Goretti Angolikin, WFM Grace Kigeni and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Phiona Mutesi who all have 8 points out of 10 plus the only debutante Joyce Kabengano with 7.5 points.
Apart from Namaganda, all the other top four women players on the team are unbeaten after 10 rounds with their worst results being draws.
The last round will be played on to be played on the morning of Sunday 28th February 2016.
