Sadam Ali Sheikh leads Kenya's onslaught in the individual online Para-Olympiad which gets underway Friday.
Ali was the winner of the inaugural Kenya National Chess Championship for People Living With Disability in October 2019.
According to Chess Kenya (CK) president Bernard Wanjala, this is a test event. The Olympiad for People Living with Disability will feature 30 countries with each fielding one.
The main/ team event was scheduled for between July 28 and August 5 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia but the surging Covid-19 pandemic has deterred the players to converge at a central venue.
"FIDE (the international federation) saw it fit to explore the online chess arena with a smaller number of competitions from which they can take lessons on how to handle the team event next month," said Wanjala, also an Equity Bank Chess Club player. Wanjala is confident Sheikh will do well following his good preparation regime.
"I believe he will fly Kenya's flag very high. He has had good preparations with other top players in the country (including those without disability) on a daily basis for over two months. We believe his skills are well sharpened to ward off competitions from his opponents," added the official.
A lover of chess blitz, Ali intimates that he will be on his toes and keen to avoid any mistakes. "Things can get very competitive in blitz and the air is usually very tense making a player to always maintain concentration at all times to avoid committing unwarranted errors," said the ace.
