ATEKA WINS NAKURU OPEN

The rift valley open took place on the 17th and 18th may at the midlands hotel. over 30 players converged for the 2 day event on a very serene enviroment.Nathan ateka won the tournament with a score of 5/6. Givans amunga was joint second. But young boy ANEURIN HOWORTH was the suprise crushing many players including Magana and drawing with Atwolli.

Nathan Ateka


By Ben Magana



Coastal fisherman Nathan Mukaka Ateka and long-lost Kitale veteran Givans Amunga emerged tops with 5 / 6 at the RVM-sponsored Nakuru open held at Midlands Hotel over the weekend. Consequently, they pocketed 7500 apiece. Ateka played creative and impressive chess, a far cry from his lacklustre form at the recently-concluded olympiad qualifiers. The man even throws in a sac or two nowadays for the fans! Nathan was the only unbeaten player among the 30-odd participants.



Givans played common-sense chess, and displayed fine judgement in his games. He lost only once to the pathetically hapless and chronically weak Ben Magana in a game where Amunga missed a win. Tied in 3rd place were Ken Omolo, Wang'ombe Mugo, Beast of the Earth Mukabi and Steve Ouma. They each had 4.5 / 6 and digested 875/= each.It was heart-break hotel for the Benz-driving Omolo: up to round 5, he was in the sole lead with 4.5. In the ultimate round, he faced the wily Amunga. The Son of Kitale convingly accounted for Omolo's King's Indian defence. In the end, Ken had to refocus his mind from thinking of 10k first prize to getting 875, only enough to buy a coupla Bamba 50's and 2 samosas at Checkmates club.Beast of the Earth exhibited remarkable resilience to win a prize after being tortured into submission by UoN's George Mwangi.



Steve Ouma and his NBK teammate Mugo played solid chess to show that NBK are no pushovers in the league. Kenya #1 pretender Ben Magnum lost thrice - to whippersnapper George Mwangi, to Deputy Nyahururu mayor Nduhiu, and to 13-year old wunderkid Aneurin Howarth. I was amazed at how strong this young boy is. He managed, with Black, to win an exchange, before corralling a loose bishop. According to CK,thea r equally strong juniors out there (Rahul Mohan & Ankush Nagda) capable of hurting established seniors. So the future of Kenyan chess is bright?! PS:madman Ivanchuk won MTel event in Bulgaria ahead of my man Topalov. Topalov & I seem 2b having network shida, but we'l b bak!



Final standings



No. Name Score

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. NATHAN ATEKA 5.0

2. GIVANS AMUNGA 5.0 3.

3 KENNETH OMOLO 4.5

4. STEVE OUMA 4.5

5. JOHN MUKABI 4.5

6. WANGOMBE MUGO 4.5

7. 13 GEORGE MWANGI 4.0

8. ANEURIN HOWORTH 4.0

9. DOUGLAS AMBATSA 4.0

10. AKELLO ATWOLI 3.5

11. EDWIN KORIR 3.5

12. 9 FAUD FARAH 3.0

13. BENJAMIN MAGANA 3.0

14. GITHINJI HINGA 3.0

15. GODFREY GATHENDU 3.0

16. TIMOTHY NDUHIU 3.0

17. SAMUEL MAKUMI 3.0

18. MUKHTAR SHEIKH NUR 3.0

19 TERENCE CHAZIMA 3.0

20. 14 RICKY SANG 2.5

21. CALEB NYAGWAYA 2.5

22. JUMA MWAGUYA 2.5

23. 5 PHILIP MWASHE 2.0

24. HESBON OMANJO 2.0

25. TOM MULUMIA 2.0 26.

26. KEVIN KISALI 1.5

27. 29 ALNOOR AMLANI 1.0

28 ALEEM MERALI 1.0

29 JOSHUA PLEKWA 1.0

30. BENJAMIN GITHUMBI 1.0

31. 16 CLEMENT MIHESO 0.0