KENYAN NATIONAL CHAMP WALKS AWAY WITH A CAR

Over the last few days, the rest of Africa stood up to admire the glory of Kenyan chess, who have clearly thrown the game to the next level.

As if in a dream , the winner of the 2021 Kenyan Chess Championship walked away with a brand new Mazda Demio.

The winner, Martin Njoroge (1901) had to see off the defending champion Gohil Mehul AKA ‘’Gorilla’’ (2014) in a ruthless tie break after tying at the summit at 8 points.

**Njoroge receives the trophy from KCF President, Wanjala**

Their head-to-head encounter in the seventh round ended in a draw.

The first set of tie breaks, that came in the form of 2 rapid games that were viewed live from several outlets, including Utube, ended in a 1-1 draw. But Njoroge had other plans. He bludgeoned his opponent 2-0 in the blitz tiebreaks that followed , causing one of his fans to jokingly shout “he arrived on a ”footsbitsu” , now he will go back home on a Mazda Demio”

The tournament’s favorites, Ben Magana, who recently won the tough Nakuru Open , finished 3^rd with 7.5 points.

**a cartoonist’s impression about Njoroge’s triumph**

Sasha Mongeli won the ladies category . She also won tie breaks with Triza Mwenda after tying at 8 points.

Unlike the Open section tiebreaks which were decided in blitz , Sasha trimmed her opponent to size right in the rapid tiebreaks by winning 2-0.

She pocketed Sh100, 000 for the victory.

However , Sasha lost in their 7^th round head to head encounter .

Kenya national team player, Joyce Nyaurai was third with 7 points .

This is the second time for a Kenyan Chess Champion to win a car for a first prize. Before the Covid -19 pandemic, in 2019, Gohil Mehul also won himself a Mazda Demio.

Clement Miheso and Mercy Chereno were crowned winners in the open and ladies sections of the persons living with disability sections .

Kenya Chess Federation President Benard Wanjala presented the car to Martin Njoroge who was over the moon about his success

At the end of the day Gohil Mehul conceded that Njoroge has cultivated a brand of good aggressive chess.

For more detailed articles , go to Kenya chess Masala website links below