(Press release courtesy of Uganda Chess Federation)
Olympian Harold Wanyama continued his winning run by beating former Olympian Kenneth Kakooza in the seventh round of the ongoing Rwabushenyi Memorial Chess Championship at Hotel Africana.
The win put unbeaten Wanyama on 6.5 points out of a possible 7, half a point ahead of closest challengers Bob Bibasa and National Chess Champion Arthur Ssegwanyi.
Bibasa beat Kenya’s strongest player in the tournament, Matthew Kanegeni to get to 6 points as Ssegwanyi continued with recovery from his first round upset to beat Farouk Fauza. Ssegwanyi is also on 6 points and cannot be written off for the top prize in the Civil Aviation Authority sponsored event.
Ssegwanyi was poised to take on Wanyama in the eighth round scheduled to start at 3 pm (East Africa Time) as Bibasa plays Aaron Kanaabi in potential title deciders.
The winner, who will be crowned on Wednesday at 4.30 pm will walk off with a prestigious trophy and Ugandan Shillings 700,000/-. There are cash prizes and trophies for the top three in the Open and in the Ladies event. Two more rounds are to be played in the Open category.
In the ladies category, Olympians Ivy Amoko and Phiona Mutesi are enjoying a joint lead at 6 points apiece. 15 year-old Mutesi beat 2011 National Ladies Champion, Grace Kigeni as Amoko beat the National Chess League’s best player Christine Namaganda.
Kigeni is following closely with 5 points alongside 10 year old Gloria Nansubuga (5 points) who beat Bridget Twinomugisha in the morning. Nansubuga upset Olympian Amoko in an earlier round.
In the ladies eighth round, Amoko was scheduled to take on Kigeni as Mutesi plays Cathy Kenyange.