KE: WeCC ’2012 NCL Qualifiers’ Tournament – Results

Text: Paras Gudka
Photos: Paras Gudka and Emma Nzioka

Held over the weekend of 14^th and 15^th January 2012 at Café 64, Westlands Chess Club’s inaugural event, the WeCC ‘2012 NCL Qualifiers’ chess tournament saw a historical coming together of senior and junior (under 18) players after a very long time in recent years. While the tournament was conducted mainly to choose a team that would represent WeCC (as the club is better known) at the 2012 edition of the Nairobi Chess League, many junior players who had already formed their own teams were allowed to participate so that they would get a feel of the competition they were about to face in the league.

Round 1 in progress at the WeCC '2012 NCL Qualifiers' tournament

Using the same time controls as those to be used in the league, players were allotted 45 minutes each to complete their matches so that every round was completed in a maximum of 90 minutes. A total of 7 rounds were played, with the first 2 on Saturday afternoon and the remaining 5 on Sunday from 8.35 am to 5 pm. The tournament saw a total of 17 participants with 6 seniors aged 19 to 34 and 11 juniors aged 9 to 13.

In a surprising turn of events, the number of junior participants outnumbered their senior counterparts.

Nine-year old Sharanya Iyengar caused the upset of the tournament when she beat seasoned player Hesbon Omanjo in the first round and went on to beat 2 other senior players in the next 2 rounds. She ended the tournament in third place with 5 points out of 7. Joining her at the top were: favourite-to-win Mehul Gohil in first place and club regular Vasanth Ramesh in second place.

Sharanya Iyengar (right) caused the upset of the tournament when she beat Hesbon Omanjo (left) in the very first round.

The results were as follows:

• First Position (Overall) – Mehul Gohil with 7 points (out of 7)
• Second Position (Overall) – Vasanth Ramesh with 6 points
• Third Position (Overall) and Best Junior – Sharanya Iyengar with 5 points
• Best Lady – Isabelle Asiema with 3.5 points

Sharanya Iyengar (left) receiving her certificate for Third Prize (Overall) and Best Junior

Vasanth Ramesh (left) receiving his certificate and medal for Second Prize (Overall) from club President and Tournament Director Paras Gudka

Tournament winner Mehul Gohil

Prizes were as follows:

• First Prize (Overall) – Gold medal and certificate
• Second Prize (Overall) – Silver medal and certificate
• Third Prize (Overall) – Bronze medal and certificate
• Best Lady – Gold medal and certificate
• Best Junior – Gold medal

For their efforts and to encourage participation in future tournaments, all other participants were awarded a certificate each. Certificates of appreciation were presented to Rose, manager of Café 64 for letting the club use their premises for conducting the tournament and to club Treasurer Sneha Shah for volunteering her calligraphy skills on the certificates.

Certificate recipients pose for a group photo at Café 64. (L-R): Adarsh Gudhka, Irfaan Juma, Hesbon Omanjo, Vasanth Ramesh, Sharanya Iyengar, Rose, Sneha Shah

Final Standings:

1. Mehul Gohil – 7 points (out of 7)
2. Vasanth Ramesh – 6 points
3. Sharanya Iyengar – 5 points
4. Hesbon Omanjo – 5 points
5. Ritvik Pendyala – 4.5 points
6. Irfaan Juma – 4 points
7. Adarsh Gudhka – 4 points
8. Sanjana Deshpande – 3.5 points
9. Isabelle Asiema – 3.5 points
10. Sumit Deshpande – 3.5 points
11. Renee Kachra – 3 points
12. Krishi Shah – 3 points
13. Shefali Kachra – 3 points
14. Arnau Kachra – 2 points
15. Aryan Kachra – 2 points
16. Miral Parekh – 0 points
17. Amit Vasani – 0 points

WeCC members who qualified to represent the club at the 2012 NCL are (with respective board order):

1. Vasanth Ramesh
2. Hesbon Omanjo
3. Irfaan Juma
4. Adarsh Gudhka
5. Sanjana Deshpande
6. Isabelle Asiema
7. Sumit Deshpande
8. Renee Kachra

They will now face 13 teams in the league hosted by Nairobi Chess Club over the next 7 weeks.