Reigning male national chess champion, Alain Patience Niyibizi, starts round six of the ongoing qualifiers for the 2016 Chess Olympiad today at Classic Hotel, in Kigali fully aware that it is crunch time.

The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament where teams from all over the world compete.

Only five out of the 10 contestants in this fierce individual nine-round contest will make the national team for the Olympiad, in Baku, Azerbaijan that begins on September 1.

At the end of round five, last weekend, Niyibizi was sixth on the table after the agony of consecutive defeats in his last two encounters. Now, he needs to win round six on Friday afternoon to steer clear of a shock exit.

"Of course it’s a do or die [situation] as anyone else below the half table and who still wants to qualify. Today’s game is the most important to me,” Niyibizi told Times Sport.

In round six, the Eagles Chess Club (ECC) player faces Joseph Nzabanita of Knight Chess Club who will also fight fiercely to avoid an early exit. With one point, Nzabanita is second last on the table after round five.

A win earns a player one point while a draw is half a point.

After round five, last week, Candidate Masters (CMs) Alexis Ruzigura and Godfrey Kabera, both from ECC, were in a comfort zone – with 5.0 and 4.5 points, respectively. The duo’s station means they are confident of a place in the open section of the national team for the 2016 Chess Olympiad.

It is too early to predict who takes the other three slots but two other ECC players, Eugene Mugema Kagabo (3.5) and Fidele Mutabazi (3.0) are also third and fourth, respectively as Eagles Chess Club is keen on dominating the national team during the Olympiad.

After round five, fifth on the table is CM Maxance Murara (2.5), of Knight Chess Club, followed by Niyibizi (2.0).

Two years ago, Niyibizi, Kagabo, Ruzigura, Murara and Kabera qualified for the 41st World Chess Olympiad 2014 in Tromsø, Norway. But Kagabo would, later, be replaced by Rugema Ngarambe on the final team because of a last minute passport hitch.

Qualifiers for the ladies section, a seven-round affair, will start on Sunday.