The Kenya Olympic Chess Team has been chosen for the upcoming 44th Chess Olympiad 2022, which will take place in Chennai, India, from 28th July to 10th August 2022. LIVE now: Grand Chess Tour Romania 2022 / TePe Sigeman & Co 2022 / Mitropa Chess Cup 2022
The grueling selection process contained three phases and culminated in the final 3rd phase at the KCB Sports Club, Ruaraka. The final qualification stage had 11 players in both Open and Women’s sections, slugging it out over the weekends of 28th-30th January and 4th-6th February 2022. The best five players of each competition secured the spot in Kenya’s National Team for the 2022 Chess Olympiad. Popular: India teams for Chess Olympiad 2022 announced / Malawi determined Teams for Chess Olympiad 2022 / Sri Lanka Teams for Chess Olympiad 2022 announced
- Ben Nguku Namale
- Githinji Hinga
- Martin Njoroge
- Oluka Robert Mcligeyo
- Mukoko Issac
Captain: CM Ben Magana
The Women’s Qualifiers event ended dramatically as WCM Joyce Nyaruai and WFM Mongeli Sasha qualified directly, leaving only three available spots behind. Four players had the same score of 6.5 points and the three names for Kenya’s Women’s 2022 team needed to be decided in playoffs which were played as a 3 rounds round-robin event.
The playoff worked well for Madelta Glenda and Mutisya Jully who took the first two places and booked their seats for Chennai, however, the two other players: Nicole Albright and Cynthia Obando Awino tied for the third place and needed to play the extra match. Even the two-round match with a time control of 5 mins + 3 sec between the two tied players didn’t determine the 5th player of Kenya’s team, but Cynthia Awino Obondo prevailed in the sudden death (Armageddon) to grab the last available spot for Olympiad. Related: German Team for 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 to be captained by Jan Gustafsson
- WCM Joyce Nyaruai Ndirangu
- WFM Sasha Mongeli
- Glenda Madelta
- Jully Mutisya
- Cynthia Awino Obondo
Captain: Moses Andiwoh
To achieve more remarkable results at the Olympiad, Chess Kenya secured the coaching services of GM Marian Petrov (2462) from Bulgaria. Read more: Indian team starts preparations for 44th Chess Olympiad 2022 #TweetOftheDay / Boris Gelfand got an important role in Indian’s Team and believes they can go the distance at the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022
Final rankings – Kenya Qualifiers for Chess Olympiad 2022:
| Rk. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | |
| 1 | CM | Magana Ben | KEN | 2081 | 8 |
| 2 | Namale Ben Nguku | KEN | 2000 | 7.5 | |
| 3 | Hinga Githinji | KEN | 1970 | 7 | |
| 4 | Njoroge Martin | KEN | 1901 | 5.5 | |
| 5 | Oluka Robert Mcligeyo | KEN | 1638 | 5.5 | |
| 6 | Mukoko Isaac | KEN | 1774 | 5 | |
| 7 | Maina Chris | KEN | 1736 | 4.5 | |
| 8 | Shile Lenny Mataiga | KEN | 1751 | 4 | |
| 9 | Ndegwa Jackson Kamau | KEN | 1910 | 4 | |
| 10 | Nyaga James Kabui | KEN | 1855 | 3 | |
| 11 | Mwangi John Milton Kihara | KEN | 1839 | 1 |
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Final rankings – Kenya Women’s Qualifiers for Chess Olympiad 2022:
| Rk. | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | |
| 1 | WCM | Ndirangu Joyce Nyaruai | KEN | 1665 | 7.5 |
| 2 | WFM | Mongeli Sasha | KEN | 1609 | 7.5 |
| 3 | Madelta Glenda | KEN | 1455 | 6.5 | |
| 4 | Mutisya Jully | KEN | 1344 | 6.5 | |
| 5 | Nicole Albright | KEN | 1237 | 6.5 | |
| 6 | Obondo Cynthia Awino | KEN | 1341 | 6.5 | |
| 7 | WCM | Wanjiru Lucy | KEN | 1586 | 5.5 |
| 8 | Mwendwa Triza | KEN | 1403 | 4 | |
| 9 | Matei Veronicah | KEN | 1287 | 3 | |
| 10 | Jerop Sheila | KEN | 1362 | 1 | |
| 11 | Muthoni Vivian | KEN | 1360 | 0.5 |
