Chess Kenya (CK) has made a bold move in pursuit of gender parity by offering equal prizes to winners of the Open and Ladies’ sections of the 2025 Kenya National Chess Championship (KNCC).
Both winners will be awarded a brand new car.
Wanjala said the section winners will be awarded a brand-new Nissan Note car, valued at Sh1.8 million.
The second-placed player in both the Open and Ladies' categories will pocket Sh120,000 and Sh100,000, respectively.
Over the past five years, the Open winner has been awarded a new car while the Ladies’ champion received Sh100,000.
This year’s KNCC will be held from December 26 to 31 at the CK offices at Jubilee Insurance Exchange Building, Nairobi.
CK president Benard Wanjala told Nation Sport yesterday that the federation decided on equal reward following complaints, especially from female players.
“Ladies were feeling discriminated against,” Wanjala said.
In chess competitions, the open section is mainly contested by male players, even though female players are eligible to play.
The ladies’ category, on the other hand, is exclusively for women players.
Wanjala explained that the separation of the two categories is because male players are generally stronger than their female counterparts.
Equity Chess Club player Victor Ngani in action during the 2023 Kenya National Chess Championship at Charter Hall in Nairobi on December 26, 2023.
Photo credit: File|Nation Media Group
He cited the current world ranking by the International Chess Federation that does not feature a single woman in its list of top 100 players.
Norway’s Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is ranked first with a Fide elo rating of 2,840.
The world’s top female chess player is China’s Woman Grandmaster Hou Yifan, with a rating of 2,613.
In Kenya, the top female chess player is Woman Fide Master (WFM) Joyce Nyaruai at position 30 in the national rankings with a rating of 1,889.
Candidate Master (CM) Robert Mcligeyo tops the national standings with a rating of 2,113.
Since CK introduced the winner's car prize for the open section at the 2019 KNCC.Mehul Gohil has claimed the most at two – in 2019 and 2022. Martin Njoroge, Joseph Methu and Mcligeyo drove away in new cars after winning in the 2021, 2023 and 2024 editions, respectively.
Wanjala noted that the introduction of the car award has significantly raised the level of the competition.
“People are now willing to invest in the sport through training. We have seen an increase in the rating of the players over the years. More junior players have also been attracted to take part,” he said.
