For next three days, the Uganda Open Chess Championship will be the talk of chess enthusiasts across the region.
The longed-for championship gets underway on Thursday, 9th November at the Forest Cottages in Bukoto, with the region’s cream of the crop lined up for the contest.
Seven countries including Burundi, Eritrea, Kenya, Namibia, South Sudan, Zambia and hosts Uganda are represented at the event, and Uganda has all its elite players ready to clash.
Of the top Ugandan players, only Walter Okas and Woman Fide Master Grace Kigeni are out of action. Okas feels he’s not ready to take part in such an event while Kigeni is busy with the preparation as she’s soon walking down the aisle.
International Master Arthur Ssegwanyi leads a lineup of players that include among others IM Elijah Emojong, FM Patrick Kawuma, FM Harold Wanyama, FM Haruna Nsubuga, WFM Ivy Clare Amoko, WFM Goretti Angolikin and WFM Christine Namaganda.
Francis Obita, Joseph Kaamu Shadrack Kantiti and Grace Daniel Nsubuga are among the old-timers up for the contest in this Garry Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa sponsored event.
The winner will walk home with Shs1.5m as prize money and this person is expected to come from the top five who include Ssegwanyi, Emojong, Kawuma, Wanyama and Nsubuga.
