CHESS GRANDMASTER DIMITRI REINDERMAN VISITS KENYA
Dimitri Reinderman
Reinderman in 2007 Full name Dimitri Reinderman Country
Netherlands Born August 12, 1972
(age 38) Hoorn, The Netherlands Title Grandmaster (1998) FIDE rating 2608 (May 2010) Peak rating 2608
(May 2010)
Kenyan chess got a much needed boost when one of the world’s top trainers, Grand
Master1 (GM) Dmitri Reinderman of Holland, flew into the country on Thursday 21st July
2011 to conduct an extensive chess clinic.
This event took about 3 months to coordinate with Dr Nikolai van Beek being the person
who came up with the idea and who did much of the preliminary work.
1
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion,
Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life. In chess literature it is usually
abbreviated to GM (similarly, FM stands for FIDE Master and IM for International Master). The abbreviation IGM for International
Grandmaster can also sometimes be found, particularly in older literature.
Plans being made on what, where and how.
Mehul Gohil holds up a chess position from Reinderman’s game while waiting for the
Grandmaster to appear on his arrival
The chess clinic kicked off on 22nd July Friday with the first of four training sessions:
“Dmitri Reinderman has an ELO2 rating of 2617 which is world class. He is a well
respected chess trainer who has coached the South African national team which is one of
the strongest teams on the continent. And he has mentored some of best junior players in
Europe. In Kenya, the opportunity to get mentored by such a strong player is almost nonexistent. Most of the time local players are left to their own devices and this method of
training naturally has serious limitations. A grandmaster in general is equipped with a
great knowledge of various middle game strategies and endgame technique. In addition,
Grandmaster Reinderman is an expert on intricate openings like the Alekhine’s and Semi-
2
ELO – The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is
named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor. The Elo system was invented as an improved chess
rating system, but today it is also used in many other games. The top Kenyans are at 2100 ELO points
Slav Defences which I also employ. To get an inside look through the eyes of a top
grandmaster at these openings will be priceless,” quoted Mehul Gohil.
The Friday evening training session was followed by a spectacular exhibition over the
weekend. On Saturday 23rd July at 2:00pm, Grandmaster Reinderman took on 35 players
simultaneously in an event billed as ‘Reinderman vs The rest of Kenya’. This exhibition
showcased the grandmaster’s ‘chess stamina’ and ability to think through radically
shifting scenarios:
The stadium was set!
GM Dimitri Reinderman shakes Kenya’s veteran Olympian John Mukabi at the start
GM Dimitri Reinderman makes his move against Asim Shah of Tarpo Ltd who were one
of the major sponsors of the event.
Spectators follow the proceedings
Keen players wait for GM
Mathew Kiama was “Last man standing” – this was the last game to be completed.
The eventual score of this event was 33 wins and 2 draws against Rodgers Adai and Mike
Rua. GM Dimitri has effectively destroyed “The Rest of Kenya”.
On Sunday 24th July Grandmaster Reinderman played a blindfold exhibition game
against one of Kenya’s legendary Olympians, Ben Nguku. The grandmaster had no sight
of the board unlike Ben Nguku. The grandmaster spoke out his moves as he plays the
game entirely within his mind, relying only on his photographic memory of move
patterns. Dimitri nonetheless won this encounter as well!
Asim Shah of Tarpo Ltd one of the sponsors plays a warm up game against Dimitri
The stage was set. Dimitri with his blindfold, Nikolai standing waiting to make the moves
on the demo board, Paras Gudka readies his camera and Ben Nguku seated on right
ponders.
Ben Nguku ponders his move while Mehul Gohil writes down the moves.
Dimitri Reinderman and Ben Nguku discuss the game.
Ben Nguku being interviewed by Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
The chess training was conducted on 22nd, 25th, 26 & 27th July 2011 in the evenings from
7 pm to around 10pm. The training was intense but very useful. Particpants in the
training were Mehul Gohil, Ben Magana, Githinji Hinga, Austin Okeyo and Hesbon
Omajo.
The classroom.
On the last day GM Dimitri Reinderman play a clock simultaneous against the 5 players
who attended the training. Each board started from the same Rook ending where Dimitri
had 5 pawns against his opponents who had 6 pawns.
GM Dimitri Reinderman also took time to visit Ol Pejeta Ranch, National Museum and
the Animal Orphanage where his special interest were the Big Cats. Fortunately it was
feeding time at the Animal Orphanage.
GM Dimitri Reinderman then took time off to visit Kingero Primary School located in
Kabete on the outskirts of Nairobi. We had a small presentation and we spent some time
with the children who are learning chess under the umbrella of Kabete CARES.
Dimitri spends a bit of time with some very eager chess students!
We presented a chess set to the school.
Chess players from University of Nairobi – Lower Kabete Campus led by Ruskin
Onyambu (far left) came by to visit Dimitri while he was at Kingero School.
Dimitri, Chairman Kim Bhari (centre) and Mehul Gohil (Secretary) of Nairobi Chess
Club pose for a photo.
This event was organised by Kenya’s oldest and biggest chess club – Nairobi Chess Club.
The event sponsors were Jacaranda Hotels Kenya, Tarpo Ltd, Mr Kange Saiti, Mr Niels
Lauritsen, Mr Peter Gilruth & Dr Nikolai van Beek. Official Photographer for the event
was Chess Events EAC who provided a complimentary coverage of the visit.
This was the first time in over 20 years that a grandmaster visited Kenya to train the
country’s best players. Last training visit was by Grandmaster John Emms of England in
1990 when he took the national team bound for the Novi Sad Olympiad through a
grueling training schedule.
To our sponsors we say a Big “Asante Sana”. To Dimitri Reinderman we say your trip
has generated great interest in chess and we say “Karibu tena”.
GM Visit Itinerary
Thu 21/7, 20:15: Arrival JKIA
Hotel check-in
Fri 22/7, 14:00: Press conference – Venue TBA
Leave for lunch 12:00
19.00 Training selected players
Sat, 23/7, 12:00 Simultaneous exhibition with participation of well-known Kenyans
(Buddha Blaze, Caine Prize nominee Alnoor Amlani), Jacaranda hotel
Sun 24/7, 12:00 Blindfold game – Ben Nguku – Jacaranda Hotel
Followed by departure for Nanyuki
Mon 25/7, 16:00 Return from Nanyuki
19:00 Training selected players
Tue 26/7, 11:00 Visit Kenya National Museum
19:00 Training selected players
Wed 27/7, 14:00 Visit chess club of Kabete Cares
19:00 Training selected players
Thu 23/7, 8:10 Leave for Amsterdam
Pick-up at Jacaranda hotel at 5:00