The National Chess team landed in this afternoon from Baku, Azerbaijan after signing out of the World Chess Olympiad on a not so good note following a 3-1 loss to New Zealand in the Open Category, and a 2-2 draw against Malawi in the Women category in the final round of the biennial tournament on Tuesday.
Having relentlessly battled with the International Chess Community of the Deaf [ICCD] to draw 2-2 in the penultimate round – a game that saw Fide Master Patrick Kawuma down arguably the greatest deaf Chess player, Grand Master Yehuda Gruenfeld on board one- Uganda needed a win to stand a chance of finishing in the prize winning positions in group D.
That unfortunately was not the case as FM Harold Wanyama who miraculously forced a draw against Italian International Master Duilio Collutiis in the tenth round lost to fellow FM Scott Wastney. Farouk Fauza was also on the losing end while both Kawuma and Simon Gonza drew their respective games to hand New Zealand a 3-1 victory.
In the Ladies category, Women Fide Masters Grace Kigeni and Goretti Angolikin ended the competition with wins but the wins were only enough to earn a draw as Joyce Kabengano lost board three to Gondwe Vitumbiko.
The Ladies finished 117 out of 140 in the Women section while the men’s side managed a 126th finish out of 180. Group D winners in the Open category Sudan finished 71st.
A rather poor ending undermined the country’s notable start to the tournament. Nonetheless, this edition ranks as one of Uganda’s best having missed the first three rounds.
The United States of America emerged gold winners in the Open category for the first time since 1976 after edging Canada 21/2:11/2 in the final round to beat second placed Ukraine on a tie-break and the bronze Medal went to Russia who were overwhelming favorites to win the top prize prior to the tournament.
In the Women section, China won the gold medal and the Polish ladies beat Ukraine on a tie-break to return home with Silver. Ukraine settled for bronze.
