NAIROBI, Kenya, October 18 – Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Chess Team manager Isaac Babu is bullish about the side’s chances at this weekend’s Mombasa Open Championships at the Mombasa Beach Hotel.
Babu said the team is 100 per cent ready and warned their regional rivals to be ready for a rude awakening when they turn up for the competition at the seaside city.
“We are prepared for these championships…all of our players are ready for the battle with the foreigners who are coming from Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. It will be a very challenging tournament and it will really help the local players to up their game,” Babu said.
He pointed to last August’s Rapid World Chess Championships in Dusseldorf, Germany as a tournament that refined his players skills and gave them a wealth of experience to aid their future competitions.
“Just last August they were in Germany playing in the Rapid World Chess Championships in which they performed very well. I know with this regional tournament they will be up (to the task). Our players are really gearing for the prestigious trophy and for the cash prize,” Babu said.
The team will be skippered by Master Benjamin Magana and includes the likes of FIDE Masters Martin Njoroge and Joyce Nyaruai, Bernard Nguku, teenage sensation Robert McLigeyo among others.
They have been in imperious form thus far, topping the ranking cross table ahead of Equity Chess Club, Nairobi Chess Club, and Nairobi Chess Academy and Club, placing them on the path to another Kenya National Chess Premier League title.
The Mombasa Open Championships has attracted 59 participants; overall winner will walk away with Ksh 50,000.
