Mercy Ingado, Elizabeth Cassidy and Elsie Kamoni were the gold medal winners at the 2021 African Schools Individual Chess Championship. Kenya, in addition, won four silver medals and five bronze medals to end in second place overall. South Africa was the top nation with four gold, five silver and one bronze medal.
The event, which saw 166 players from six African federations, was a roaring success and received praise from several quarters on social media. Kenya fielded the largest squad with 67 players, while South Africa had 41 participants.
The plush Pride Inn Azure Hotel in Westlands was the venue for the event, which ran from 12th to 20th December 2021.
In the Open U7, Manyeki Nathaniel of Kenya narrowly missed a podium finish after attaining 6 points to secure the fourth position. Ghana and South Africa clinched the top three spots.
Elsie Kamoni of Kenya won the gold medal in the Girls U7 category with 4 points while her compatriot Kaburo Winnie took silver with 4 points.
Harry Kags of Kenya beat Zimbabwe’s Aidan Magudhu to secure bronze in the Open U9 category in the final round. Uganda’s Mibiru Jayden won the silver with 8 points. Ghana’s
Acheampong Dave took the gold with a perfect score of 9 points from 9 rounds.
In the Open U11 section, Kenya’s Muiruri Don scored 7 points, winning silver. Top seed Mungal Ethan of South Africa, grabbed the gold with 7.5 points.
Elizabeth Cassidy in the Girls U11 won all her games to end up with a perfect 9 points from 9 rounds.
“It feels nice to win. I have been training hard, and it has finally paid off,” said an ecstatic Cassidy.
Kenya’s Wambui Bernice secured the bronze medal by scoring 6.5 points, 2.5 points behind category leader Cassidy. South Africa’s Naidoo Kajol took silver with 7 points.
It is interesting to point that Elizabeth Cassidy won a silver medal at the 2021 African Youth Chess Championship held in Accra, Ghana earlier this year.
Elizabeth Cassidy’s next event is the 2021 Kenya National Championship which starts on Boxing Day where she is ranked 14th.
In the last round, Jamie Obora from Kenya managed to grab the bronze in the Open Under 13 category despite being humbled by his compatriot Paul Olando.
In the under 13 girl’s category, WCM Shah Devashri secured the silver with 7 points, a point behind tournament leader and top seed, Malawian Lakshita Dutta.
WCM Devashri Shah had a shaky start after losing two games in rounds three and five but came back from behind to win five games in a row, which was not enough to overtake top seed Lakshita Dutt.
Kenya’s CM Lwanga Aguda bagged the silver medal with 7.5 points in the Open U15 category after drawing with Goliath Brimarion of South Africa in the last round. Aguda, the top seed in the category, lost to gold medalist Edwin Pido of Uganda in an eagerly contested round four clash.
Edwin Pido, who won the gold medal with 8.5 points, will be a player to watch in the future. It appears that he represents the next generation of Ugandan players in the footsteps of IM Arthur Ssegwanyi and FM Harold Wanyama.
In the most challenging category, the Open Under 17, Kenya’s top seed Robert Mcligeyo took the bronze after scoring 6 points. His fellow Kenyan Rocky Muchiri only managed 5.5 points to secure fifth place.
Mercy Ingado gave Kenya gold after garnering 7.5 points by taking out Uganda’s Britney Namirimu in the final round of the Under 17 Girls’ category.
The rest day was spent at the world renown Nairobi National Park and the popular GP Karting Track.
The Chess Kenya Federation deserve praise for hosting one of the most successful editions of the African Schools Individual Chess Championships. The event with a massive team of coordinators and arbiters ran without any hiccups.
The media team was of a world-class standard, ensuring that the event had enough high-quality photos from the hugely talented Mwendia Eastmond. Other members of the media include Steve Okeyo and Lenox Mangi.
Other members of the media include Steve Okeyo and Lenox Mangi.
2021 African Schools Individuals Chess Championship Photos Album.
The media team also produced an excellent newsletter which can be downloaded here.
Newsletter of the 2021 African Schools Individual Chess Championship.
2021 African Schools Individual Chess Championship report.
2021 African School Chess Championship on chess-results.com
Newsletter of the 2021 African Schools Individual Chess Championship.
2021 African Schools Individuals Chess Championship Photos Album.
Kenya scoops medals at the 2016 African Schools Individual Chess Championship.
Uganda dominates 2019 African Schools Individual Chess Championship.
Kenya wins medals at the 2017 African Schools Individual Chess Championship.
Jia Hiranandani grabs silver medal at the 2018 African Schools Individual Chess Championship.
