Ben Tom Zimurinda and Joseph Nzabanita showed intent as they garnered seven points each to lead the table at the end of the nine-round Chess Olympiad pre-qualifiers on Sunday night.
Ben Tom Zimurinda and Joseph Nzabanita showed intent as they garnered seven points each to lead the table at the end of the nine-round Chess Olympiad pre-qualifiers on Sunday night.
The top five now anticipating a tougher encounter – final qualifiers – come May, are Zimurinda, Nzabanita, Fidele Mutabazi, Valentin Rukimbira, and Jean Baptiste Hakizimana, respectively.
Mutabazi got 6.5 points. Rukimbira and Hakizimana managed six and five points, respectively.
In May, they will join five others who qualified automatically in the past, for a final contest where the best five will be picked for the only slots available in the core national team – the open category in which men or women can compete for places on the national team for the Chess Olympiad.
In May, five top ladies will also compete for the women section of the national team. The 42nd Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE, will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan from September 1 to 14.