Uganda hosts Zabasajja Memorial
OVER 50 SIGNED UP FOR ZABASAJJA MEMORIAL RAPID
Over fifty (50) Chess players including four (4) from Southern Sudan have so far expressed interest to participate in the 3rd Edition of the Zabasajja Memorial Rapid Chess Championship set for Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th March 2011 at Hotel Africana.
About 100 chess players are expected to take part in the event sponsored by Eng. Andrew Naimanye to the tune of shillings one million three hundred seventy five thousand (1,375,000/=) for the third time in a row.
The event’s defending champion Bob Bibasa will be up for an uphill task against the likes of Harold Wanyama, Shadrack Kantinti, Elija Emojong, Arthur Ssegwanyi, Grace Nsubuga, Patrick Kawuma and Walter Okas among others.
This will be the first major UCF organised event on a busy calendar for the year. In the Rapid event, each player will be allocated 50 minutes to complete their game. 4 rounds will be played every day. Rapid Chess slightly differs from conventional chess in that with Rapid tournaments each player is allocated fewer minutes as opposed to the conventional long chess game that can go on for between 4 to 6 hours. In the Zabasajja Memorial Rapid, the maximum time a single game will last will be 1 hour and 40 minutes.
A former Uganda National chess champion Eng. Naimanye (the event sponsor) although now a British Citizen and retired from competitive chess; still holds the record for the highest chess rating in East and Central Africa. Eng. Naimanye’s chess record rating of 2360 has never been surpassed in over twenty years.
The historic event being held in memory of legendary Willy Zabasajja is the first tournament on the Uganda Chess Federation events Calendar for 2011. Zabasajja was one of the strongest chess players Uganda has ever produced having won nine national chess championship titles during his time. He was also the first Ugandan to attain the FIDE Master title after stunning displays at the World Chess Olympiad at which he gallantly represented Uganda countless times.
Vianney Luggya
Uganda Chess Federation
P.O. Box 2355, Kampala – Uganda.
National Council of Sports Headquarters, Lugogo
Tel: +256-752-426559, 701-526559
Email: ugandachess@yahoo.com
Website: https://uganda.fide.com