Kitovu and St. Mirium Duggan defend titles at Fr. Grimes Chess Championship

St. Henry's College Kitovu Team A put up a dominant performance to successfully defend the annual Fr. Grimes Schools Chess Championship title, finishing unbeaten after a nine-round contest held at Ntare School.

In the open category, the Masaka-based side amassed a perfect 27 points over five days of competition played under the Swiss format, with each round lasting one hour and thirty minutes. Their consistency once again proved too strong for the rest of the field.

Just like last year, Kitovu faced stiff competition from archrivals St. Mary's College Kisubi Team N, who finished second with 22 points after registering one draw and one loss across the championship.

Kitovu fielded three teams at the 36th edition, with Team B clinching bronze, while Team C finished 37th out of the 96 teams that competed in the secondary schools open category. Kisubi also entered three teams, with Team G finishing 10th and Team X placing 73rd.

Springfield High School, Matugga secured fourth place, while Wampeewo Ntake finished fifth with 20 and 19 points respectively.

In the primary schools' open category, St. Mirium Duggan maintained their dominance, also defending their title with a flawless 27 points from nine rounds. The team remained unbeaten and was guided by coach Patrick Mukasa of KTCLA Chess Academy in Kamwokya.

"We were prepared enough for the championship and it's not surprising we defended," Mukasa said.

Holistic Junior School, Mitooma finished second with 24 points, while Friends International Christian Academy came third with 19 points in a category that attracted 32 teams.

In the secondary girls' category, Wampeewo Ntake emerged as the biggest winners, clinching their first-ever title with 25 points after recording two draws in nine rounds. Their triumph saw them dethrone three-time champions and defending title holders St. Andrew Kaggwa Gombe, who settled for second place with 21 points.

"It was a tough battle. We are proud to win for the first time, having finished second last year. But the biggest pride was to beat the three-time consecutive winner," said Wampeewo coach Calvin Ntumwa.

Mustard Seed SS Lukaya finished third with 19 points, while Mary Hill Team A edged Springfield High School, Matugga to fourth place, with both sides finishing on 18 points. The category attracted 64 teams.

St. Mirium Duggan further underlined their growing chess pedigree by also winning the primary girls' category in their debut appearance, despite registering two draws. That category attracted 21 teams.

The event attracted 105 schools playing in 213 teams.