Eagles lead after day one of revived national chess league

Eagles Chess Club (ECC), the only club fielding two teams in the inter-club ties of the national league championship that started Sunday, leads the table after the first two rounds.

Monday, September 21, 2015
Kevin Ganza.

Eagles Chess Club (ECC), the only club fielding two teams in the inter-club ties of the national league championship that started Sunday, leads the table after the first two rounds.

 After trouncing both Knight Chess Club (KCC) and NUR Chess Club at 4-1 respectively, Eagles B leads the charts with four points; one point ahead of second-placed Vision Chess Club (VCC), who thumped KIST Chess Club 5-0 and drawing 2.5-2.5 with Eagles A in the second round.

Eagles A, also with three points, is third after beating NUR Chess Club 3-2 and drawing with VCC.  KIST Chess Club stands at fourth position with two points garnered after beating KCC 3-2 in the second round of matches.

Huye-based NUR and KCC are fifth and sixth with zero points respectively. A team win equals two points and a draw is one point.

 Rwanda Chess Federation (FERWADE) vice president, Kevin Ganza, is happy the national league was revived after a seven-year lull.

 Ganza said: "The tournament is of great importance as it pushes clubs to up their game as they seek to dominate each other. I am also pleased that one team is fielding a 13-year-old boy. Ian [Murara] has improved considerably and he could be Rwanda’s first FIDE Master.”

 Ian Murara is a KCC player, along with his father, Maxence Murara.

FERWADE early this month published its 2015-2016 Tournament Calendar signaling a busy local competition season and improved planning.

Rounds three and four will be played on October 18. Five clubs are competing for supremacy in 10 rounds that ends on April 3, next year.