On Friday when Uganda confirmed Kenya was the opposition in the eighth round at the ongoing World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan in the women category, excitement filled the enthusiastic Ugandan players.
Kenya’s numerous attempts to beat their East African rivals had many a time fallen on barren grounds, and with Women Fide Masters Goretti Angolikin, Christine Namaganda, Grace Kigeni and the rated 1559 Joyce Kabengano in the Ugandan lineup, majority of Kenyans had little or no hope ahead of the round.
As expected, Ugandans were confident the terrific and enviable run was not about to end.
Little did the energetic and fired up players know that their captain Robinah Namwanje -a non-playing official- had made a grave mistake submitting in a wrong lineup.
Having traveled with five ladies, Namaganda –a board four payer in the sixth and seventh round- was the obvious replacement for Phiona Mutesi who connected to USA on Wednesday for a red carpet premier of the movie Queen Of Katwe on board four.
Mutesi had been on the spotlight of all the Chess media in Baku, and it was well reported and confirmed that she had left the camp, but instead of naming Namaganda on board four, Namwanje mistakenly included Mutesi’s name in the team’s lineup that had to take on Kenya.
The fiasco left the entire team flustered and wrecked as it came to their attention minutes to the game.
With no chance to make any adjustments, Board four was lost on start for fielding a wrong player and Kenya was handed a walkover. The team eventually lost 3-1 to their bitter rivals.
It was a blunder that left many wondering what really happened.
