Eagles cruise in rounds 5 and 6 of National Chess League

Eagles Chess Club (ECC), the only club fielding two teams in the ongoing inter-club ties of the national chess league championship, continues to lead the table following the end of rounds five and six played on Sunday at Classic Hotel in Kicukuro. Eagles B leads with 12 team points followed by Eagles A (8 points). Five clubs are battling for honors in the competition that started last September. Vision Chess Club (VCC) is third, with seven points, followed by Knight Chess Club, KIST Chess Club, and NUR Chess Club, with five, four and zero team points, respectively. In inter-club ties; a team’s win earns it two points while a draw means one point. On Sunday, while Eagles A struggled to snatch two wins against KIST and the Huye-based NUR, Eagles B who fielded youngster Sandrine Uwase, 13, for her first competitive team game, routed VCC and the Knights. Eric Maina, the ECC vice president, told Times Sport that they were cautious not to play all the kids against the older and more experienced adults in the opponent teams but Uwase’s performance implies that the others will most likely get a chance when the league continues next month. Maina said: “Our kids are sharp and they are excited about the prospect of trouncing older and more experienced opponents. But we were cautions about fielding all of them because we needed the wins. Next time, even the youngest, Happiness, could play since she is now on the active first team.” This year, the Eagles promoted Sandrine Uwase, Joselyne Uwase, 12, Happiness Mutete, 9, and Ronjin Munyurangabo, 15, to their first team after the youngsters impressed during last year’s national youth and women championships respectively. The young girls on the ECC team are eager to make it on the squad of five in the women’s section of the national team that will participate in the next Chess Olympiad, a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete. The next tournament will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in September, 2016 and Olympiad qualifiers are scheduled in May. Rwanda hopes to take stronger men and women squads to this year’s event. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

Sports

Eagles cruise in rounds 5 and 6 of National Chess League