International Master (IM) Elijah Emojong finished 14th in the 3rd edition of the Kawuma Open that ended yesterday with a disappointing 5 points.
The 2nd seed who’s rated 2327 faltered in the latter stages of the Open, drawing twice and losing the final two rounds. The IM managed only one win in his last five rounds.
Emojong drew with the National team’s coach Bob Bibasa, and Arthur Ssegwanyi before losing to Harold Wanyama- the eventual champion, and Allan Mathias Sonko.
Prior to the Open, Emojong’s last action on board came in November last year in Bungoma Open, Kenya and the Tanzania Open Chess championship which tournaments he won. He deservedly came into the Open as one of the favourites.
However, the Olympian who didn’t take part in the 2016 Olympiad qualifiers had taken 3 months without participating in any Chess tournament and he believes it’s the main reason he failed to defend the title he won last year.
I had taken long without playing. I lacked concentration and couldn’t match those guys. I was far from my best
Emojong who won the 1st 3 games further said;
My good start gave me false hope but the lack of practice eventually caught up with me.
