Rwanda Chess Federation (FERWADE) will this week organise a third rated chess tournament, an event open for players from regional countries including Kenya, DR Congo and Burundi.

The Rwanda Open, a four-day event which starts on Friday at Classic Hotel in Kicukiro, Kigali will be the third World Chess Federation (FIDE) rated tournament the country is hosting after last year’s two events.

According to the FERWADE vice president Kevin Ganza, Rwanda Open is a good chance for more Rwandans to get the coveted FIDE rating as the tournament has implications for the country’s global ranking.

Ganza said: "Expectations are high as it’s also a good opportunity for Rwandans to test their ability against tougher opponents, eight months to the next Olympiad. For sure, the fight for the top three positions will not be easy as we will have good players from DRC, Burundi and Kenya.”

The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete – the 42nd Chess Olympiad, will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan in September and Rwanda is looking to field two teams – men and women, of five players each.

Rwanda, which last month moved up seven places to 155th in global rankings published by the FIDE, currently has 20 rated players. Countries are ranked according to the average rating of their top 10 active rated players.

To join the cream of the crop, a player must snatch any point – a draw or a win against rated opponents in five matches of a rated tournament.

Kenya’s most dominant player in 2015, Candidate Master (CM) Ben Magana is among the foreign players expected for this year’s Rwanda open, an event sponsored by the Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa (KCFA), a non-profit organization founded by former World Chess Champion, (Grandmaster) Garry Kasparov.

Magana, who won Rwanda’s first rated tournament, in February 2015, told Times Sport that he will not underestimate anyone.

"My main goal is to avoid losing any game. The lesson I learn from African Chess ratings, low as they may be, is to never underestimate an opponent. Last year, I was soundly beaten by a Tanzanian player rated over 300 points below me!”

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