The Rwanda Chess Federation (FERWADE) is fast-tracking efforts to get legal status so as to ably host its annual Genocide Memorial Chess Tournament (GMCT) from June 9 to 11 at Classic Hotel in Kicukiro, Kigali.

Late last year, the Ministry of Sports and Culture (MINISPOC) suspended nine federations including FERWADE over   operating without a legal status.

FERWADE president Kevin Ganza said: "As usual, since 2014, we are preparing the 2017 GMCT. It’s the second international tournament we are hosting, after the February 2016 Rwanda Open.”

"We are organizing it in collaboration with the Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC) and Kasparov Chess Foundation, Africa. We expect players from the region and South Africa, as well as GM Ashley Maurice, a special guest from the US.”

Ashley, the first African American to become an international grandmaster in chess, is an author, commentator, app designer, puzzle inventor, and motivational speaker who has spent many years teaching chess.

Eugene Mugema Kagabo won last year’s Genocide memorial chess tournament. According to Ganza, the latest event will have two sections, a rated one – it is the fourth-time Rwanda will be hosting such an event – and an unrated one.

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