Joshua Katumba’s maiden appearance at the Zonal Championship is one he is not ready to put to waste.
The Chess Warrior Chess Club player has set his targets high, and is dead set on achieving them despite this being his first appearance at the tournament.
Katumba secured his ticket to the Zonal Championships last month following his fifth finish in the Open category at the Zonal Qualifiers, and soon after securing sponsorship and confirming his participation at the annual event, he was quick to share with us his mind.
“It’s hard to tell how things will turn out, but I’ve been training so hard so expect the best from me,” Katumba who helped his Chess Warriors side earn promotion to Division One last season told Kawowo Sports.
“I have put in so much work it can’t all be for nothing. My target is to obtain the IM [International Master] title or at least the FM [Fide Master] and then of course the cash prize,” he added.
While Katumba has made his objectives clear and remains resolute, he knows achieving his dream will require a grit fight considering the strongest chess players in the continent- the Egyptians- are among the competitors.
“Of course it won’t be a walk in the park especially against them [Egyptians] but we have beaten them before. Why not do it again?”
Since joining FIDE in the early seventieth, Uganda has triumphed only once at the Zonal Championships and that was in 2015 when Arthur Ssegwanyi won the event hosted here in Kampala.
The 2017 edition takes center stage this weekend at Central Hotel, Jimma in Ethiopia, with six Ugandans lined up for the challenge.
