Emojong takes lead at Africa event

Egypt, Sudan, Burundi and Uganda are among the teams participating in the zonal event which has attracted 10 nations in the open category with eight taking part in the ladies event.

National Chess Champion Elijah Emojong is in the lead at the on-going Zone 4.2 Africa Chess Championship in Cairo, Egypt.

The Ugandan crashed Egyptian International Master (IM) Hassan Sayed Barakat for his seventh point out of as many matches to take a one-point lead at the continental meet.

Egypt’s IM Samy Shoker, who is second with six points, is scheduled to play Emojong in the ninth and last round later this week.

Good start
The Ugandan Fide Master had earlier defeated Burundi’s Yves Ndikumana (rated 2088), CM Ahmed Holi Ali Moawiaa (rated 2066) and Abdalsalam Abubukr (rated 2002) both from Sudan and Egypt’s Sadek Sameh (rated 2352).

He also outwitted Eygptians IM Hesham Abdelraman (rated 2338) and IM Labib Ibrahim Hassan (2456) to send a clear message of intent about his determination to win the African title.

He is yet to clash with Egyptian FM Yousry Salah (2297) and IM Shoker in the next two rounds.

IM status
Winning the ongoing event will grant Emojong an IM title, the first in East Africa and also offer him a lifetime opportunity to represent Africa at the World Chess Cup (WCC) due August 18 to September 17 in Norway.

The WCC is a prestigious event that guarantees every player some money for mere participation. Only 128 players will take part in the event which has two rounds per game except the final which consists of four.

odongoj@ug.nationmedia.com