Reigning national blitz champion Joseph Methu retained the crown he had earned in June, when he blew away his competition at Unplug & Play Blitz Championship 2, on Sunday, 16th July, to win the tournament with an incredible ten and a half (10.5) points in eleven (11) rounds.
Joseph Methu (left) receiving his prize of KES 2,000 from Unplug & Play co-founder Brenda Manyara / Photo by Allan Rongoey
Joseph’s fiercest rival Mehul Gohil, who had finished in second place at the last event, was nowhere to be found in the top five (5) as playing in three (3) consecutive blitz tournaments over one weekend took its toll on him, and he seemingly crashed at this particular event. By the end of this tournament, he had played thirty two (32) rounds of FIDE-rated blitz chess! He finished in 8th place with a meager four and a half (4.5) points at the end of eleven (11) rounds.
This time around, Anchor Chess Club’s CM Vasanth Ramesh finished in second place with eight and a half (8.5) points, ahead of more seasoned players like FM Stephen Ouma, Brian Kidula and Ricky Sang.
CM Vasanth Ramesh receiving his prize of KES 1,000 from Unplug & Play co-founder Penny Nyambura / Photo by Allan Rongoey
Prize winners:
- 1st Place – Joseph Methu (10.5 pts)
- 2nd Place – CM Vasanth Ramesh (8.5 pts)
The 12-player micro tournament was played as an 11-round single round-robin event with a time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move from move one (1) and the players gave a good show, which would continue by next month.
Games in progress at The Alchemist Bar in Westlands / Photo by Paras Gudka
Related Links:
- Final standings (chess-results)
- More photos (Facebook)
