John Vianney Mukalazi heaped praise on the organizers of the inaugural Kireka Chess Club Open Chess Championship for staging what he termed as a ‘classy and successful’ tournament.
Under the leadership of Bob Were who patrons the club, the National Chess League winners Kireka organized a four-day tournament at Memorito Hotel, Bweyogerere with an aim of giving back to the entire Chess fraternity.
The club’s first Open turned out a big success, and Mukalazi who was the second in line Arbiter at the competition couldn’t hide his delight.
Speaking to Kawowo Sports, Mukalazi, a Director at the Chess Life Academy said: “The tournament was very classy and successful. The level of organization must have surprised many because it is a rare thing doing such good work on your first attempt,”
While the turn up upset Mukalazi, the former Olympian was mesmerized by the performance of those who took part particularly the youngsters.
“The only problem was some players didn’t turn up. It created frustration among those who had showed up because they were not paired. Majority of these young players had come to improve their ratings. Now, it is hard to do that if you don’t get paired because you don’t earn points.
“I was however, impressed by the young guys who managed to come. They displayed some good chess and showed these seniors that they can actually compete against them. These boys have greatly improved,”
One particularly player who left not only Mukalazi, but also his fellow players amazed was the 17 year old Michael Basangwa.
The 2014 U15 National Junior Champion put up an outstanding show at the event to finish within rewarding positions with his fourth finish.
Basangwa overwhelmed another brilliant youngster Benjamin Allan Mande in the final round to finish with 6 points, one below the eventual champion Arthur Ssegwanyi and second placed Haruna Nsubuga who tied.
The inaugural Open had only two Kireka players finish in rewarding spots, with Nsubuga coming second and Simon Gonza finishing third.