Round eight of the National Chess Championship ended with International Master Arthur Ssegwanyi topping the leaderboard.
Ssegwanyi after that round has to his name 7.5 points, and remains just one of the only two players in this star studded competition yet to lose a game.
The No.1 seed in East Africa has outwitted all his opponents except Candidate Master Emmanuel Egesa who he drew with in the fifth round.
Hot on Ssegwanyi’s heel is 20-year-old Mark Nyola Wasswa who has been a revelation in this competition. Like Ssegwanyi, Nyola has not tasted defeat at the Super 14, he has however, drawn four times.
FM Haruna Nsubuga with 5.5 points, FM Patrick Kawuma (5) and Egesa (4.5) complete the top five.
There are five more rounds to go, but it is safe to say that the National team is shaping up. The top five players at the end of this tournament will make up the national team that will represent Uganda at this year’s Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, and those five appear set to make that team.
FM Harold Wanyama risks missing out on the team. The second seed in the region has since his national team debut in 2008 been a mainstay in the team, but he is currently languishing in the eighth position with a paltry 4 points.
Wanyama has so far lost three games including the eighth round he lost to Egesa. For the rated 2226 to have a chance of qualifying, he needs to win all the remaining five games.
IM Elijah Emojong is on the same boat, however, is a place above Wanyama with 4.5 points. Emojong has three draws and two losses to his name, his latest result being defeat to Nsubuga.
Peninah Nakabo and Patricia Kawuma lead the standings in the Ladies section each with 6.5 points. Shakira Ampaire, Milly Takali and Sana Omprakash Kayyar in that order complete the current top five.
WFM Ivy Amoko who came on a wild card is trying to get back to the team. She is just a place outside the top five with 5 points.
WFM Gloria Nansubuga who was part of the team that that participated at the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai, India is second last with just 1.5 points.
The Super 14 returns on Saturday with the nineth and tenth rounds. Emojong against Ssegwanyi will headline the matchups that day. The two IMs face off in the nineth round.
