In a bid to give equal representation to all formats of chess, Nairobi Chess Club, with tournament sponsor Aslam Adam, hosted its first tournament of the year – the Fizza Blitz Chess Invitational tournament at Goan Gymkhana on Saturday, 19th February 2011.
Comparable to the Twenty20 format of cricket, the ‘blitz’ format of chess is its shortest where each player usually has 5 minutes to bang out his/her moves before a result can be determined.
Githinji Hinga in deep concentration during his game against Martin Gateri.
Wycliffe Obutu and Mehul Gohil playing on boards 1 and 2 respectively.
Participants and spectators enjoying a Saturday afternoon of chess at Nairobi Chess Club's home base of Goan Gymkhana.
The Fizza Blitz Chess Invitational, named after the sponsor’s grand-daughter, saw eight hand-picked chess maestros competing for a grand prize of KShs 10,000 with the club’s own secretary, Mehul Gohil–considered favourite to win the competition–finishing in second place with a cash prize of KShs 5,000.
The tension in Mehul Gohil's game against Philip Singe is palpable as demonstrated by the crowd around them.
Each invitee battled the other twice, in a Swiss style double round robin cycle with a 15-minute break in between the two rounds. Veteran Martin Gateri eventually took the first prize with a solid second-round performance of 7 wins out of 7 games with Githinji Hinga finishing in third place.
A group photo of the invitees. Seated (from L-R): Mehul Gohil, Martin Gateri, Githinji Hinga. Standing (from L-R): Wycliffe Obutu, Philip Singe, Akello Atwoli, George Mwangi, George Mathea.
Winner Martin Gateri receiving his prize money from Kim Bhari, Chairman of Nairobi Chess Club.
The blitz tournament paves the way for NCC’s second edition of the Nairobi Chess League where legendary teams such as the Mighty Pawns have confirmed participation after over a decade of being in retirement. For more information on these and other tournaments, visit www.facebook.com/NairobiChessClub.