Chess on wrong track

Apr 04, 2004

<b>Your letters</b><br><br>SIR - Ugandan chess has made giant strides over the years despite lack of international silverware since Geoffrey Makumbi’s gold medal at the 1996 chess Olympics and Stephen Opio’s Africa championship silver medal.

Your letters

SIR - Ugandan chess has made giant strides over the years despite lack of international silverware since Geoffrey Makumbi’s gold medal at the 1996 chess Olympics and Stephen Opio’s Africa championship silver medal.

While results of Uganda’s national chess teams of the 80’s and 90’s seem a little more impressive than those of today, the problem then was there was less competition and results were quite predictable.

Then, you always expected either Willy Zabasajja or Emmanuel Kabuye to win.

With more competition today, it is important we get a formal ranking/rating system for chess players. Stephen Kisuze used to do this and keep records for the Uganda Chess Federation (UCF). For now, everyone just speculates.

For instance, I read with consternation Niels Lauritsen’s recent chess column ‘Top guns’ in which he gives his ranking of the top ten chess players.

The controversial list is more of a joke. It not only contains names of players whose game has degenerated but others too new to deserve a place among the top.
No wonder, the UCF is looking to hand pick a team to the Olympics this year.

Vianney Luggya Mpungu
ENTEBBE

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});