Kenya Prisons Service joins as chess popularity soars

Chess, the ancient two-player strategy board game, is rising fast in the country attracting teams that have never participated in the game before.

Kenya Prisons Services on Saturday fielded a 30-man strong team at the inaugural Coast Open Chess Championship organized by Judith Kiragu in Mombasa.

“It is very impressive that the team is participating here because it is going to create an influence in bring in other national bodies to come and participate in such tournaments,” Kiragu, who is from the Lighthouse Chess Club, said.

She said this is a sign that the game is gaining popularity at a fast rate, with performances equally becoming top notch, raising the bar in the process.

Speaking at Sai Rock hotel where the inaugural Coast Open was held, Kiragu said the tournament attracted more than 370 players from four countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan.

“We have had a lot of titled players participating including one Kenyan female player who recently became a Woman Fide Master in Botswana,” Kiragu said.

Sasha Mongeli, who became the first Kenyan woman to earn the Woman International Master title from the world chess governing body, was among the participants at the inaugural Coast Open.

The youngest ever Kenya National Chess Champion Jadon Simiyu, 14, was also among the competitors in the inaugural tournament and battled it out with South Sudan candidate master Madol Garang.

Kiragu said the tournament was divided into the open, the lady and the under-1700 categories which attracted 192 players and the junior category which attracted 180 players.

The tournament is part of the Grand Prix, which is made up of tournaments across the country.

“Players participating in the tournament earn points which make them eligible to them join the national team at the end of the year when Chess Kenya holds the national qualification championships,” Kiragu explained.

She said Kenyan chess is very strong today as the game attracts more and more young people.

“When we hold youth championships, we have a minimum of 10,000 participants. These are the ones who are growing up. The growth trajectory of chess in Kenya has been massive in the last six years.

“In the next six years, we will be talking about huge numbers,” Kiragu said, adding that Chess Kenya Federation is one of the well performing federations in Kenya.

She said the contributing factor to the growth is majorly parents realizing that the game has many major benefits for their children in terms of education, discipline, and focus.

“Chess aids the children to perform better in school. But not only that, chess also has several other benefits like grounding children and making them smart.

“It enables them to explore so many opportunities, see the world and get a broader perspective about life,” Kiragu said.

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A FIDE Master (FM) title requires a player to achieve and maintain a classical FIDE rating of at least 2300 Elo. Unlike higher titles, earning the FM rank does not require you to achieve tournament ‘norms’. One simply needs to reach the 2300 rating threshold in FIDE-rated events. The title is international, permanent, and is the third-highest over-the-board designation one can earn. It is positioned just below the International Master (IM) and Grandmaster (GM).