The 2020 edition of the annual Rwanda Open chess tournament, which kicks off at Classic Hotel in Kigali on Saturday, will be a good opportunity for the country’s promising young players to measure up, an official has told Times Sport. By press time Thursday, only 15 players had registered for the three-day event but more were expected as registration continues until hours before games begin on Saturday. Some players from Uganda, Burundi, Ghana, Afghanistan, Swaziland and South Africa will take part in the country’s biggest chess competition. Kevin Ganza, president of the Rwanda chess federation (Ferwade), said: “This year’s Rwanda Open is exciting as we cannot wait to evaluate our youngsters who have been showing tremendous performance in local tournaments.” “Rwanda Open is international and therefore our players will have the opportunity to meet strong players from the region.” Rongin Munyurangabo, 19, Ian Murara Urwintwari, 17, and Ben Patrick Cyubahiro, who turned 16 on Tuesday, are Rwanda’s best young players. Last weekend, when the trio qualified for the second phase of Olympiad qualifiers set for March, Munyurangabo stretched his unbeaten run to a record 13 competitive games. Ganza noted that unlike in past events, there is likely to be fewer players from regional chess heavyweight Uganda since “another strong tournament in Uganda which is likely to be one of the qualifier tournaments for 2020 Olympiad” starts in Kampala on the same day. The Zabassaja Memorial Open Chess Championship in Kampala is one of the biggest regional events. But Ganza is undeterred by the coinciding big tournament fixtures in Kigali and Kampala. “We are confident that Rwanda Open is going to be a good tournament, and it will benefit our players as they are now preparing for the second phase of Olympiad qualifiers come March.”
