Chess: Big guns Gohil, Misiko out of 2023 national team assignments
Martin Njoroge (right) makes a move against Mehul Gohil during the 2021 Kenya National Chess Championship at the Luke Hotel in Nairobi on December 30, 2021.
What you need to know:
- The men’s team will be coached by Magana, who finished fifth in the Open Section, while the women’s team will be handled by coach Moses Andiwoh.
- By virtue of being the national men’s champion, Gohil who is also Kenya's second finest chess player with a Fide rating of 2020, qualified directly to the third and final phase of the qualifiers held at Utalii Hotel in Nairobi at the weekend.
National men’s chess champion Mehul Gohil and runners-up Hugh Misiko will not feature in this year’s national duties after they failed to make the cut.
The two top players missed out on the five slots in the Open Section after being upset in the second and final phase of the qualifiers.
Last December's Kenya National Chess Championship (KNCC), where Gohil outwitted Misiko in a tie-break, was the first round of the selection to the national team.
Teenage sensation Robert Mcligeyo (Lighthouse Chess Club), Candidate Master (CM) Ben Nguku (KCB Chess Club), former top seed Joseph Methu (KCB Chess Club), Elvis Likoko (Equity Chess Club) and former national champion Victor Ng’ani (Equity Chess Club) made it to the national team in that order.
Their female counterparts are Woman Fide Master (WFM) Sasha Mongeli (Nakuru Chess Club), Woman Candidate Master (WCM) and national women’s champion Joyce Nyaruai (KCB Chess Club), Cynthia Obondo (Technical University of Kenya), Madelta Glenda (Equity Chess Club) and Jully Mutisya (Nakuru Chess Club).
The men’s team will be coached by veteran player CM Ben Magana, who finished fifth in the Open Section, while the women’s team will be handled by coach Moses Andiwoh.
By virtue of being the national men’s champion, Gohil who is also Kenya's second finest chess player with a Fide rating of 2020, qualified directly to the third and final phase of the qualifiers held at Utalii Hotel in Nairobi at the weekend.
It was the same case for Nyaruai (1660) in the Ladies Section. Mcligeyo (1860), Likoko (1784) and Magana (2121) are the players who humiliated Gohil in the qualifiers.
He was also held by Nguku (1949), Methu (1939) and Ng’ani (1928), but defeated Ricky Sang (1851) and immediate former champion Martin Njoroge (1911).
Misiko crashed out in the second phase of the qualifiers.
The Africa Individual Chess Championship slated for May in Egypt and Africa Games programmed for August 4 to 19 in Ghana are some of the major tournaments the team will represent Kenya in.
