After three weeks of rest following the conclusion of Olympiad qualifiers last month, Chess players get back on the board on Friday, March 25.
In what promises to be an action packed year for Chess lovers, the Kawuma Open Chess is next on the calendar.
The event that was first held in 2014 gets underway at Tick Hotel Kawempe, Kampala.
Over 150 players from the region are expected to participate in this Fide rated event.
Ben Magana and Moses Andiwo among others are expected to represent Kenya while Kalisa Kaytesi Odel is on the Rwandan team. IM Elijah Emojong who’s been out of action for some time now is also expected to take part in the event as he seeks to defend the title he won last year.
The Kawuma Open is sponsored by Prof. Medi Kawuma and family and has done so for the past two years. The family has this time injected in 4.2M. Winners in both categories (open and ladies) will be rewarded with cash prizes ranging from Ugx 200,000 – 1,000,000.
The winner in the open category will pocket 1,000,000 while the 2nd and 3rd will get 500,000 and 200,000 respectively.
Unlike the last two editions where the winner in the ladies category received a cash prize of 400,000 the winner in this year’s edition will walk away with 700,000 the sponsors confirmed. 400,000 and 200,000 will go to 2nd and 3rd respectively.
In addition to the cash prizes, the open also acts as a qualifying stage for this year’s Zone 4.2 Africa Chess Championship that will be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The top five individuals in each of the two categories will represent Uganda in the championship due April.
Tagged the most successful chess family in the country, the Kawuma family boast of three Fide masters including Stephen and Moses Kawuma currently based in the UK, and one of Uganda’s 2016 Olympiad representatives, Patrick Kawuma.
Albeit taking part in the previous editions, Kawuma (Patrick) is yet to win the open. IM Arthur Ssegwanyi won the inaugural while Emojong another IM is the defending champion.
