62-year-old Peter Gilruth showed his fellow competitors why he is Kenya’s number 1 player when he beat all of his opponents to finish the inaugural KAM Pharmacy Senior (40+) Rapid Chess Championship with 6 points and the title.
Satish Deshpande (right) was the first to face Peter Gilruth in Round 1 / Photo by Paras Gudka
Held on Sunday, 17th April 2016 at Oshwal Sports Complex, Nairobi, this unique event saw players aged 40 and above take on each other in 6 rapid games, played at a time control of 25 minutes flat, over the course of the day. The tournament was organised jointly by Oshwal Sports Complex and Motochess Ventures (run by yours truly) and sponsored by KAM Pharmacy.
Deputy Arbiter David Macharia observes proceedings / Photo by Paras Gudka
Participants included businessmen and chess club leaders such as Karim Rahemtulla (KAM Pharmacy), Ramesh Thiagarajan (Basco Paints), Kim Bhari (Nairobi Chess Club), Lawrence Kagambi (Nairobi Gymkhana Chess Club) and Geoffrey Mulaga (Eastlands Chess Club).
Karim Rahemtulla, a director of KAM Pharmacy and the brains behind the tournament, is an avid chess player himself / Photo by Paras Gudka
Clubs that were represented included Nairobi Chess Club, Nairobi Chess Academy and Club, Eastlands Chess Club, Nairobi Gymkhana Chess Club, Checkmates Chess Club, Visa Oshwal Community and Shree Navnat Vanik Mahajan (SNVM).
Nairobi Chess Club Chairman Kim Bhari was seen playing alongside 3 of his clubmates / Photo by Paras Gudka
Amazingly, all 4 chess players representing Nairobi Chess Club—Kim Bhari, Peter Gilruth, Willy Simons and Mushfig Habilov—won a prize each.
Players came from as far away as Migori, Kisii and Kitale just to play in the tournament, highlighting the need to take chess to all regions of Kenya rather than have all activity concentrated in the capital.
Final prize winners were as follows:
Overall
- Winner: Peter Gilruth – 6 points (received a trophy + KES 7,000 cash)
- Second Place: Jacob Onditi – 4.5 pts (received a trophy + KES 5,000 cash)
- Joint Third Place: Geoffrey Mulaga, Charles Lwanga Karoli, Martin Oyamo and Willy Simons – 4 pts each (received trophy, medal, medal, medal respectively and KES 1,000 cash each)
Nairobi Chess Club’s Peter Gilruth (right) receiving his prize for first place (overall) from KAM Pharmacy Director Karim Rahemtulla / Photo by Kim Bhari
Under 60
- Joint First Place: Lawrence Kagambi and Kim Bhari – 3.5 pts (received trophies + KES 2,500 cash each)
Kim Bhari (right) receiving his prize for joint first place (U60) from Jacob Onditi / Photo by Sruthi Vasanth
Under 50
- First Place: Collins Young – 3.5 pts (received a trophy + KES 3,000 cash)
- Second Place: Mushfig Habilov – 3 pts (received a trophy + KES 2,000 cash)
Collins Young (right) receiving his prize for first place (U50) from Nairobi Gymkhana Chess Club Chairman Lawrence Kagambi / Photo by Kim Bhari
Ladies
- First Place: Hema Shah – 3 pts (received a trophy + KES 3,000 cash)
- Second Place: Menal Shah – 0 pts (received a trophy + KES 2,000 cash)
Visa Oshwal Community’s Hema Shah receiving her prize for first place (ladies) from KAM Pharmacy’s Fred / Photo by Kim Bhari
Medals (for players who scored 50% or higher)
- George Ochieng – 3 pts
- Joseph Omboga – 3 pts
Kisii’s Joseph Omboga (right) receiving his medal for scoring 50% from Interim Chess Kenya Assistant Treasurer Satish Deshpande / Photo by Kim Bhari
Related links:
- More photos (Facebook)
- Pairings and results (chess-results)
