Biyasi sparkles at South’s African Chess Qualifiers
Little-known Stanley Biyasi defied the odds at Country Club Limbe on Saturday when he overcame strong opposition to win the Southern Region Chess League (SRCL) Qualifiers for next month’s Africa Individual Chess Championships in Namibia.
He drew with his fiercest opponents Bright Nthara and Kajani Kaunda and beat everybody else to collect five points from six games in the 12-player qualifiers. He will lead second-placed Nthara (4.5points) and third-positioned Kaunda (4.5points) at the national finals.
“Today, I was well prepared for the games and I am happy to make it to the national final for the first time,” said Biyasi.
According to SRCL publicist Kissinger Kabuluzi, apart from making it to the national qualifiers, the top three players have also qualified for the league’s Rated Chess Championships alongside fourth-placed Peter Jyloss, fifth-positioned Steve Mpighu and sixth-placed Diston Chatsaine.
“This was a double qualifier. The top three players are eligible for both the national qualifiers of the African Championships and the forthcoming rated contest. However, those from number four to six have made the grade for the rated competition only,” he said.
