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Kenya once again topped East Africa after retaining the overall title of the 2020 East Africa Online Youth Chess Championship held at the weekend online.

 Kenya scooped a total of 30 medals out of a possible 36, collecting 11 gold, 10 silver and nine bronze medals with Uganda finishing a distant second with three medals; one gold and two silvers.

 Kenya’s gold medals were won by Jeevan Ramesh and Avyana Pandya in the Under-8 boys and girls category respectively, Cyprian Mbaabu and WCM Janvi Shah in the Under-10 category, Paul Olando and Bernice W Gikandi in the Under-12 category, Taran Moudgalya in the Under-14 category (boys), Joe Mutua and Naiya Gosrani in the Under-16, with FM Pendyala Ritvik and Elizabeth Cassidy winning gold in the Under-18 category.

“As Chief Arbiter of this tournament, I am glad that the tournament was successful, registering a higher number, 100 players, than the inaugural event which had 55 participants. 

“Key is that the game is being picked up by kids in the under 12 -under years, attracting 75 per cent of the total players that took part in the event,” said Anthony Kionga. 

“The players are practicing fair play which is one of the key lessons learned from playing chess, good sportsmanship.

As a result, we had zero cases of cheating, and I, therefore, want to thank the coaches and the chess academies for instilling such good behavior in the students. The future is bright for Kenyan chess.”