Kcb chess team is gearing up for a gruelling weekend ahead of the 2023 Kisumu Open Classical Chess Championship on November 11-12 at The Scottish Tartan Hotel, Kisumu County.
The tournament, which has attracted top players from Kenya and Uganda, will see the winner in the open section bag Sh25,000.
The first and second runners-up get Sh12,500 and Sh7,500, respectively.
In the ladies' category, the winner will go home with Sh10,000 while second and third-place finishers will bag Sh6,000 and Sh2,500 respectively.
KCB’s and Fide Masters Martin Njoroge and Joyce Nyaruai, Candidate Master Ben Magana, Bernard Nguku, and national junior chess champion Robert McLigeyo will represent the bankers in the competition.
“We have been training rigorously and are ready to take on this challenging competition. We know we are facing top players from across the region, and this won’t be easy. As a team, we must stay together, support each other, and make sure that in the end, we win as a team, not just as individuals.” Njoroge said.
Njoroge is a former national champion.
In the recently held Mombasa Open Championship, Joyce Nyaruai emerged as the winner in the ladies’ section with an impressive tally of 5.5 points out of six rounds.
Martin Njoroge, in the open section, narrowly missed securing the top position due to a tie-break, finishing second to bag a silver medal.
In Nairobi, top chess clubs will converge for the 3rd edition of the Kenya National Chess Championship for the PWDs on Saturday at the Kcb Sports Club.