In a tautly contested event, Fide Master Haruna Nsubuga emerged the top dog at the Genocide Memorial Chess Tournament that came to a close on Sunday at Classic Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda.
Nsubuga’s four wins and a couple of stalemates handed him the trophy on a tie-break with five points.
While three other players including Allan Mathias Ssonko, FM Harold Wanyama and Simon Gonza collected 5 points each, Nsubuga who recently achieved the 22+ rating emerged champion on a tie-break.
The rated 2217 registered four straight victories before drawing against FM Patrick Kawuma in the penultimate round as well as sharing spoils with Ssonko in the final round in what was a winner-take-all encounter.
Despite the draw, the result was just enough to see him conquer the fourth edition of the Genocide Memorial as he had the tie-break on his favor.
Ssonko settled for second place and Wanyama unexpectedly came third. There’s hardly a thing surprising in the reigning player of the year finishing the event placed in the top three positions, but Wanyama missed the first round due to late travels and with Kawuma, Nsubuga, Gonza and Ssonko enjoying brilliant starts, it was surprising he tied with the eventual champion.
Although he mainly faced weaker opposition due to his miss, Wanyama who leaves Rwanda as the only player to win all his games should return home pleased.
While Wanyama should feel contented with his final position, things were far from merry for his fellow FM, Kawuma. The No.3 seed in the region registered three straight victories but faltered in the fourth round as he drew against Rajab Kamoga, and in the final two rounds did the same.
Kawuma drew against Nsubuga and was involved in a game that lasted for over five hours against Thomas Katairo which also ended in a draw.
It was a result that kept him out of the top three positions as he ended the event placed sixth with 4.5points.
Katairo had a blast in Rwanda. His rating improved from 1968 to 2002. He tied points with Kawuma and Kamoga but came seventh on a tie-break.
The top nine positions were taken by Ugandans. The hosts had Joseph Nzabanita as their best performer. He came tenth with 4points.
In the Open category, Samuel Were won the trophy with 5.5 points, level with fellow Ugandan Emmanuel Mwaka, but won it on a tie-break.
And in the Ladies’, another Ugandan Ivy Kayesi was handed the trophy for topping the category.
