"My opponent left a glass of whisky 'en prise' and I took it 'en passant". - Henry Blackburne | SINCE 2007

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Random Thoughts

1. In the recently concluded Kenya Open it was more like Nairobi open. Where are all those other players from ouside Nairobi??
2. Saif Kanini is the only player ever to win an Olympiad medal(silver) for kenya in 1980.
3. Where is Mathew Kanegeni?
Blessed june to you all

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

African chess

Check out this upcoming website by Robert Gwaze http://www.chessafrica.com/

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Kenya Open 2009

After much haggling and uncertainity the kenya open was held over Madaraka day weekend.

Dolf Beltz won the event with 6.5/7, the new comer in the kenyan chess scene trounced veteran kenyan chess players.

Gilruth, Wangombe and john mukabi on 5.5 points. Ugandan was reresented by mulambe. Mehul withdrew after round 6 when a dispute with mulambe over the touch and move rule.

Chess kenya must be commended for organizing the event although they should not ambush people with unplanned events.

25 players were selected for next phase of olympiad qualifiers.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Nairobi Chess League

Nairobi Chess League Rules(last modified 18th April 2009)

1 The Nairobi Chess League will be a team event with eight players per team. Matches will be played on four boards only. Matches will take place between January and May on a Saturday afternoon at a venue as notified to team captains. There will be two divisions, restricted to 11 teams per division. The event is open to all clubs.
2. Once a player has competed for a team in the League, that player cannot compete for another team in the same Division in the same season.
3. Board prizes will be awarded for the top players for boards 1 to 6 only. The minimum games played must be over 65% to qualify for board prizes. If 9 rounds are played then a minimum of 6 games must be played, if 10 rounds are played then 7 games
4. Prize for board 1 to 4 for ladies will be awarded based on the ratios mentioned in point 3 above. Prize for board 1 to 4 for junior player under the age of 18 will be awarded based on ratios mentioned in point 3 above.
5. A schedule will be sent to all competing teams on the Monday before the Saturday matches. The rate of play will be 45 minutes for all moves.
6.. Although the event is termed Nairobi Chess League, Rapidplay rules will apply. Except as modified by these rules, the normal FIDE Laws of chess will apply.
7. Scoring will be fully on game points. A won game will score one point, a drawn game half a point and a lost game zero points. Therefore, there are four points per team at stake on each afternoon of play. However if a team defaults for an afternoon their opponents will be awarded a 3 - 0 victory. This is to try and prevent default results having a distorting effect on the league placings. Any team defaulting on two or more afternoon matches may be expelled from the league and all their results annulled if they have played less than 50% of the games.
8. Any disputes will be settled by the organisers (or their representatives) whose decision is final. Teams are expected to compete in a spirit of fair play and cooperation. It is also hoped that the event will provide a more social opportunity than normally available through the Nairobi Chess League and that all involved will participate in making it an enjoyable event.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Sex Boycott

Kenyan women have decided to boycott sex for one week to push for reforms in the country! more

Monday, April 27, 2009

Chess Social Responsibility(CSR)

Recently the local chess community organized themselves to give back to society. The event dubbed the chess social responsibility or CSR. Purity Gachiga, Githinji Hinga and a few other chessers visited Kibera's LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL and made the children very happy. Here are a few photos of the event.

The deaf/dumb kids with their teacher(in red)


Gitinji giving the students their first chess lessons




Eldoret Chess Pictures

Geoffrey 'Eku' Dokoria emailed me this pictures of Eldoret open some time back but i have failed to post them. Enjoy


Ben Nguku relaxes when not playing and probably no blitzers were around.


George Mwangi in his usual concentrative style slugs out aganaist Magana

One of the many players who turned up to play