Alain Patience Niyibizi and Marie Faustine Shimwa are the 2015 male and female national chess champions respectively which concluded on Sunday at IPRC-Kicukiro, in Kigali.
Alain Patience Niyibizi and Marie Faustine Shimwa are the 2015 male and female national chess champions respectively which concluded on Sunday at IPRC-Kicukiro, in Kigali.
It was a tough fight for top honors during the annual contest that was dominated by Eagles Chess Club (ECC) players since Niyibizi who garnered 7.5 points outclassed last year’s winner and team mate Alexis Ruzigura (7.0 points) in the nine-round open contest that begun on Thursday.
Niyibizi who was thrilled by his first-ever title told Times Sport that retaining it will not be easy.
"It’s always good to win every game but it’s awesome to win the title especially in a tough encounter like this. I want to retain the title but it is never easy. I must work harder,” Niyibizi said.
In the ladies seven-round event, defending champion Shimwa – of Knight Chess Club (KCC) – cruised unbeaten with all 7.0 points in their two-day event that saw eight youngsters make a promising debut in the biggest local chess tournament.
Twelve ladies including three who played in the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway participated.
Rwanda Chess Federation (FERWADE) Vice President, Kevin Ganza, was impressed by the great performance shown by new players, and especially youngsters such as eight-year old Happiness Mutete, a primary three pupil of Ecole Primaire Kinunga, in Gikondo, who emerged fifth.
Ganza said: "The kids in the female category were amazing. We are gradually seeing more kids who are up to the challenge. Just like in the recent youth championships, Happiness surprised everyone with her performance and particularly her speed in recognizing patterns. We see a future chess star in her.”
The winners immediately qualified for the Olympiad qualifiers in May next year. The Olympiad will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in September, 2016.
Country gets five more rated players
Five of the six players who qualified for the tough test last month hoping to join the cream of the crop if they managed to snatch any point in the nine-round rated contest eventually made it.
One of the debutants, Asad Ndangiza, who emerged fourth, was outstanding. The ECC player beat four rated players and lost to Ruzigura by a whisker.
Ndangiza, Gerarld Mbabazi, Karemera Mwikarago, James Karuhanga, and Ian Urwintwari Murara are the new rated players.
Their actual ratings and Rwanda’s new world ranking will be officially published by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) next month.
To get the coveted World Chess Federation (FIDE) rating, a player must play five rated opponents and get at least a draw. A win (1.0), or a draw (0.5), is the basic requirement to secure a rating but higher scores and more wins imply starting off at a higher rating.
Ganza said the federation is happy about the tournament results especially since getting five new rated players means that the country’s world ranking improves. Rwanda presently has 15 rated players.
"Senior players were astonished by the performance of new players and this is good for Rwanda chess. Players will now be pushed to work harder and practice more often,” Ganza said.
"It is an important achievement since we will now have 20 rated players and their average is going to take Rwanda points ahead in the world ranking.”
Rwanda first held a rated chess tournament in February when six locals got the FIDE rating to then put the tally of rated Rwandans at 14.
Rwanda’s December global rating was 162nd while regional power house, Uganda, galloped three slots up to 99th but Kenya slumped two down to 122nd.
Burundi remains at 163rd but Tanzania also improved one slot to 164th.