Checkmates Chess Club Maybe Closed Down!!

The most famous and active chess club in Kenya, Checkmates chess club maybe closed by the end of the month.

Members of checkmates club, (Sitting) Mehul Gohil, Ben Nguku (standing from Right) Ben Magana, Githinji Hinga, Philiph Singe and Akello Atwolli.

By Githinji Hinga

I know this may round like a bad joke, but its serious as a heart attack. Downtown Pub, the home of checkmates club is set to close down in less than a fortnight from now.I had been getting subtle hints for awhile only for Willy, pub manager, to confirm this on Monday evening.We met up with George Mwangi and Willy on Tuesday lunch and agreed he should get contacts and details of the landlord, with an aim of finding out what options are available to keep the place running.

Its important to note, at this time, we got the impression that the owner,mama, had surrendered the place and was not interested.This led to a meet with the landlords' agent yesterday, with Purity,Esther and I in attendance. Basically, we were made to understand they are toying with the idea of converting the place into offices but could also entertain the idea of keeping it 'As Is' but with a new tenant and new terms. He agreed to have a more conclusive stance in our next meeting of 26th. A day after the handover and assessment of the premises.For now, that's the info I have. Looks grim but am sure we can find away out of this one. They say, many heads are better than one, now imagine many chesser heads.

KENYA NATIONAL BLITZ CHAMPIONSIPS

The Kenya national blitz championships will take place on Wednesday 12 December 2007 at the checkkmates club. Mehul Gohil will be defending his title aganaist the likes of Magana and Nguku. More details follow below

VENUE: Downtown Pub & Rest.
DATE: 12th DECEMBER
TIME: 12pm onwards

ENTRY: Kshs 200 (incl. lunch)


Tournament Format:

This is going to follow the same format as the 1st blitz championship. It's gonna be grueling and will test anyone's chess stamina.

PHASE 1


All players will be put into 4 seeded pools. The seeded players are as follows: Seed 1 - Mehul Gohil, Seed 2 - Ken Omolo, Seed 3 - Ben Magana, Seed 4 - Ben Nguku. The remaining players will be chosen randomly via secret ballot. Depending on turnout it may be that the seeded pools do not contain the same number of players.
Players will play a double round robin and the TOP 2 from each pool qualify into PHASE 2.

PATZER CHAMPIONSHIP

All those who are knocked out in phase one will take part in a patzer championship which will be a all play all double round robin. The winner will be declared Kenya Patzer blitz champion and bag Kshs 1,000. The 8 players who make it to PHASE 2 cannot take part with the patzers.

PHASE TWO

The 8 players will be divided into 2 pools. The players in this pool will not have met each other in PHASE 1. This will again be a double round robin and the TOP 2 from each pool will qualify for the finals.

FINALS

The four finalists will play each other in a quadruple round robin which will eventually crown the new Kenya Blitz Champion 2007.

ALL FIDE BLITZ RULES WILL APPLY. THE RULES WILL BE DISCUSSED AND AGREED UPON BEFORE THE START OF THE TOURNAMENT. THERE WILL BE A 5-10 MINUTE BREAK AFTER EACH ROUND ROBIN CYCLE...AND IN THE CASE OF THE PATZER CHAMPIONSHIP, THERE WILL BE A BREAK AFTER EVERY 6 ROUNDS PLAYED.

CHECKMATES RAPID OPEN TOURNAMENT

PRIZE BREAKDOWN

1st Prize: Kshs 5000/= + Trophy
2nd Prize: Kshs 3000/=
3rd Prize: Kshs 2000/=
All the above prizes are guaranteed

ENTRY FEE

Early payment (Before 9:00am 18th August)
KSHS 300/=
Late payment (After 9:00am 18th August)
KSHS 500/=
Payment of entry fees includes FREE LUNCH.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

7 Rounds Swiss System. 25min per game/per player.
TIMINGS

Round 1 will start at 10:00am SHARP. Please be warned that this timing is non-negotiable and Checkmates Chess Club will not follow the routine of other chess tournaments by beggining only when there is sufficient quorum. Even if only 3 players are present the tournament will kick off.Deadline for registering for ROUND 1 is 9:30am. Those who register later will be forced to miss round 1 and still have to pay the more expensive late entry fee of Kshs. 500/=. No nonsense on this issue will be tolerated.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE


9:00am - 9:30am: Elections of club officials. *
9:30am - 10:00am: Pairings for RD1 and Players to discuss FIDE Rapid Rules.
10:00am - 1:00pm: RD 1 - RD 3
1:00pm - 2:00pm: Lunch
2:00pm - 6:00pm: RD 4 - RD 7
6:00pm - 6:30pm: Prize Giving