Lagos, Home Of Chess In Nigeria-NCF

 The Permanent Secretary, Office of Sports (OS), Lagos State Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development (MYSSD), Mr. Sewedo Oluseyi Whenu has received in his office Mr. Graham Jurgensen, Director, Kasperov Foundation, African Zone who is on an official visit to Nigeria along with Mr. Lekan Adeyemi and Mrs. Bidemi Ganiyu Opollo, President and Secretary of Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF).

 

Oluseyi Whenu, while welcoming them to the “Centre of Excellence” opined that chess is well developed in Lagos State owing to the government’s policy of grassroots sports development across the sports. He said that the “government believes that our youth are our tomorrow and they should be assisted to excel in their sports aspirations and achievements. Lagos would continue to exploit ways of staying ahead in the development of chess.” 

 

On the issue of the introduction of Mini Chess Game to primary schools in the state, Whenu said that the Office of Sports has a department in charge of schools sports that will propagate the mini chess game initiative in conjunction with other agencies such as Ministry of Education and Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB) as the game would help enhance the pupils in further understanding and solving Mathematical and English problems.

 

He concluded by saying that “the agencies of sports in the state will not relent in developmental sports as various initiatives like the Adopt-A-Talent Sports Programme is put in place to further identify, develop and mentor our athletes, giving of scholarships to athletes in schools, skill acquisition trainings amongst others in order to encourage and prepare our athletes for their future challenges.”

 

The President, Nigeria Chess Foundation (NCF), Mr. Adeyemi said NCF has just concluded the Millionaires Chess Festival with Lagos produces over 52 percent of chess players in Nigeria. He stated that mini chess game would be an educational tool for improving mathematics at the primary school level as the federation hopes to produce tomorrow’s Masters with this initiative.

 

He added that Lagos State chess players emerged the top five positions at the recently concluded U-16 National Tournament. These Lagos players, Bakare Toyosi, Ijezie Chuma, Atawodi Emmanuel, Sulaiman Aishat, Okpegbuwo Somto and Ogunleye Elizabeth, according to him would represent Nigeria at an international tourney soon. He added that NCF has also fully supported the Lagos Chess Classics from inception.

 

Director, Kasperov Foundation, African Zone, Mr. Graham Jurgensen said the purpose of his visit is to further strengthen the cordial relationship between NCF and Lagos State. According to him, chess is the second most popular sport in the world per number of players and tournaments.

 

Jurgensen is looking at the possibility of chess featuring in the primary schools curriculum in Nigeria with a catchment of between 20 to 25 percent of pupils. He canvassed for the continued working relationship between NCF and Lagos State with the ultimate aim of getting the private sector to drive the development of the game. 

 

He concluded by inviting Lagos State delegation to the Millionaires Chess Tournament that would take place in Las Vegas United States of America from 8 - 12 October, 2015.

 

Chess Masters Set for Millionaire Satellite Festival

After several months of planning, the much anticipated Lagos Millionaire Satellite Chess Festival gets underway from today with all the best players in the country and subregion set to storm the Chevron event centre, Gbagada, Lagos.

 

For five days, Nigerian chess prodigies led by current National Champion, Bomo Kighiga, John Fawole, Bunmi Olape, Dapo Adu and Eugene  Uwana all set to display their prowess on the chess board to determine the ultimate winner of the all- expensed paid trip main tournament in Las Vegas USA in October 2015.

 

The second prize winner will take home N100,000 while N70,000, N40,000 are also for grab for other players in same order. There are cash prizes for best female players and in the Open section. 

 

According to the President of Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF), Mr. Lekan Adeyemi, Millionaire Chess is a company that promotes chess and organises global chess tournaments. The organisation conducted the first Millionaire Chess Open tournament which was held in Las Vegas, USA last year.

 

With a total of $1,000,000 in prizes, it is the highest-stakes open chess tournament in history. The second edition of the Millionaire Chess is scheduled to come up from 8-12 October, 2015 in Las Vegas, USA.

 

To provide opportunities for chess players from African Federation, the Kasparov Chess Foundation in partnership with the organiser agreed to provide full sponsorship to the tune of $5000 each to the three winners of the Millionaire Chess Satellite Tournaments in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

 

The Nigerian version of the tournament will run from 10th to 15th and NCF has decided to add two other categories to the tournament by giving opportunities to players who will not be able to participate in the main even because of work commitments and also students who will not able to participate from today.

 

 The Opens and Under 16 categories will run on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th only and cadet category would be used to select players that will represent Nigeria at the Zone 4, Under 16 African Team Chess Championship scheduled to come up from 7 - 15 July, 2015, at the DPS International, in Ghana.

NCF President Chess Cup Debuts

After several months of careful planning, the stage is set for the maiden edition of the Nigeria Chess Federation President Open Chess Cup which will come up in Warri, Delta State from 10th-13th of next month.

NCF boss, Mr. Lekan Adeyemi, disclosed over the weekend that the idea to organise the tournament stern on the determination of the present board of NCF to increase the level of playing opportunities for the numerous chess players in the country.

"I have conceived the idea of a tournament like this over the years and expectedly, our players no doubt expected a lot from me and it is my duty not to disappoint them," he remarked.

The seven-round Swiss event paring will hold at the Sylva Link hotel in Warri with a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 more minutes to finish with additional 30 seconds after each move.

The winner of the Master section will take home N100, 000 and N50, 000, N25, 000, N15, 000 and N10, 000 respectively for other prize winners in the category.

In the Open/Female section, the overall winner takes home the sum of N50, 000. While the first runner up wins N30, 000 and N20, 000, N15, 000 and N10, 000 respectively for the remaining prize winners.

Adeyemi, the sole sponsor of the tournament also set aside brilliancy prizes of N15, 000 best female and N10,000 for male player.

He also explained that the breaking of tie will be in following order; Head-to-head, Buchholz and Sonneborn Berger. 

The manager of Sylva Link Hotel, Timothy Yonman whose multi purpose will housed the three-day tournament said the hotel is delighted to be identified with the Nigeria Chess Federation and they are already upgrading their facilities to provide a perfect environment for the competition.

"It's a unique partnership with the leadership of the chess body in the country. We are indeed looking forward to having the best chess players in the country coming over to our hotel and compete under the regulated atmosphere as recommended by the world chess body FIDE," he remarked.

Chess pundits see this development, as part of the right way to the chess development  in the country considering the fact that it's a major addition to several rated tournaments for the players organised by the Chess Federation and individual tournament organisers.

 

   

India, Egypt, others for Lagos International Chess Classics

Grandmaster and international master from India and Egypt will lead other foreign players to the second Lagos International Chess Classics scheduled to kick off on Tuesday October 21 at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

 Grandmaster Sriram Jha of India, International master duo of Hesham Abdelrahman Ezat Mouhamed of Egypt and FIDE Master Degondo Simplice Armel and his compatriots from Cote d’Ivoire, Lobognon Anderson Oliver and Manan Yoboue Hermann will be in Lagos for the four-day tournament.

 Others expected include, Ghana’s duo of Jamena Joseph Mensah and Anquandah Francis Eric as well as Kenyan national champion, Magana Ben 

The prize money for this year’s tournament is $22,000 while players will compete for honours in three categories while the star prize is $6,000.

  The Nigerian legions will be led by International Master Odion Aikhoje and a gold medalist at the Elista Olympiad in 1998, while 2012 zonal champion, international master Bunmi Olape will also be part of the party.  United States-based Dapo Adu will also be part of the championship, which promises to be exciting.

 According to the tournament director, Bayo Babalola, this year Section B was introduced to cater for those that lower rated players that may want to play those on their level or those slightly higher as the might not be able to play in the tougher International Open categories. 

  “We have more foreign players this year and this goes to show that the tournament is growing each year and it is getting attention from international players while the star prize in the Open Section was increased to $6,000 against $5,000 for last year. We are expecting over 150 participants in this year’s edition,”

NCF Invites Chess Players for Olympiad Trial

The Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF), has invited 50 players for the first stage of the trial to select players that will represent the country at the 41st World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway in August this year.
The list, according  to the Technical Director of NCF, Bode Durotoye, is made up of 30 male and 20 female players based on performances of the rated tournaments till date.

The invited male players includes; Benjamin Omorere, Hakeem Edunwale, Kolade Onabogun, Onovughe Ochuko, Emmanuel Maduagwan, Oladapo Adu, Olamide Ajibowo, Igboloku,o Felix, Odion Aikhoje, Ademola Sorungbe, Dennis Ogbogho, Odum Martins, Rotimi Ajele, Oluwaseyitan Femi, Koko Obele, Efemuai Benedict, Joma Crim Chuks Okoh, Oyeyemi John Fawole, Bomo Kigigha, Olufemi Balogun, Eugene Ekpoikong, Bunmi Olape, Aniefiok Nekanem, Adeyinka Adesina, Tosin Akinwale, Biola Akinseye, Michael Ijisakin and George Erekosima.

In the female list are, Doris Adebayo, Ogechi Emmanuel, Nkem Omishogbon, Olabisi Rabiu, Mandy Enarevba, Omolabake Coker, Hafsat Bello-Osagie, Tobi Olatunji, Nsisong Asanga, Irene Ajibola, Modupe Fasola, Tiritfemuwa Ofowino, Blessing Davis, Millicent Aigbogho, Yemi Osundaikin, Beatrice Okwubor, Nneoma Aguta, Queen Princewill, Ada George Jica and Patience Sylvester all made the list of invited players for the trial.

The Technical Director explained that the selection process was based on performance rating of chess players within a calendar year of rated tournaments and all the six gold medalist at the last National Sports Festival held in Lagos.

The first stage of the trials he said will come up at the Media Centre National Stadium in Lagos from 23rd-25th of this month.

"We are using the Olympiad time control over eight round Swiss event pairing and Bucholz would be used to break the ties after which 10 players each from male and female will qualify for the final round of the trials which will come up in Ibadan next month," Durotoye remarked last week.

However, while many hailed the selection process because of clear departure from all comers affairs, some pundits were able to point some loop holes that made some notable players  non eligible to participate and therefore called increase in the invitation.

Notable omissions includes Adebayo Adegboyega, Nnonso Oragwu Ajibola Olanrewaju, Nnamdi Nwoye, Inimo Kigigha, Bisiriyu Seun, Campbell Charles and Sunny Eyenghe.

The NCF boss, Mr. Lekan Adeyemi, in his response said it is the wish of the board to accommodate all the interest group but no method of selection is full prove and urged all players to take the selection in good faith. "We have received letters from some stake holders calling for wild card for some notable players but with all humility, all the invited players have my wild card my proxy based on their respective performances at the rated tournaments," he remarked.

Nigeria alongside other 180 nations will compete for glory at the World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway from 1st-15th of August this year. 

Kasparov Explains Importance Of KCF To Nigeria.

Former World Chess Champion, Garry Kasparov, on Sunday shed more light into the important role his Chess Foundation will have on Nigeria and other african countries if allowed to work in the region on full scale.

The Russian Grand master, made the pronouncement at a crowded press conference to round up his three-day working visit of Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF), to the country. He said that Nigeria with its huge population and it pivot role on the continent, has the capability to produce great chess players that will make a mark in the brain game.

"My visit to Nigeria has yielded positive results in many ways. I had a fruitful discussions with the top hierarchy in the National Sports Commission (NSC), and they were delighted with what my Foundation plans to do for the country. At the Ministry of Education, they were overwhelmed with the radical ideas of using their platform (Schools) to help lift the mental ability of the children at no cost.

"We have to perform to their expectation and I see this as a huge challenge considering the fact that I met with many top business executives in your country who have promised to support the project," he explained.
He said with all the parties involved fulfilling its side of obligation, the project will take off by September this year and the target will be children between the ages of five to nine years. He explained that at this age bracket have potentials to assimilate more and it is even better for kids in the rural areas but the age limit will not be restricted to that bracket.

“Our target is between ages of five to nine because they have the potentials to assimilate the basic principles and the effects in decision making mechanism begins to go flat from age 10. It will even better if we pick kids from the rural areas who are lacking in basic education but are able to make up with the basic principle of chess as a basis to a ‘Man of their World’ in the future. The educational system here will determine how it will work here,” he pointed out.

The Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa has been working extremely hard since its launch in March 2012 to raise funds for the broader development of chess across the African continent and have made considerable progress in this regard over the last few months.

Kasparov who became the youngest world chess champion in history in 1985 and remained the top-ranked player in the world for more than 20 years noted that Nigeria can challenge the rest of the world if we develop our potentials.

Japan, India and China were able to rise to the American challenge because they were able to exploit their respective human resources. "It is all about human factor because when you have the talents you must create the environment for it to work at optimum capacity.

"The Philippines is just about half the population of Nigeria but have 15 grand masters as against Nigeria with none and same with Egypt and Morocco with notable Grand Masters too. However, the fundamental problem of Africa is that they are too isolated from the main chess arena aside Egypt and Morocco that have exploited their proximity to Europe'" he explained.

He explained that with the coming of his foundation to Nigeria, it will afford it the opportunity to excel at the World chess Olympiad.

"My Foundation will take care of some of these fundamentals and at the same time create job opportunities for Nigerians because we will come here with our trainers who will organise seminars and work shop and thereafter your coaches will take charge inform of job opportunities," said Kasparov who is also seeking to become the next President of FIDE at the World chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway in August.

On whether his political ambition will truncate the project, the chess genius said they are projects working at a parallel line. “ Absolutely not possible because  chess is my life, it gave me fame and its time for me to give back to the world what I have learnt over the years. This why it’s a Foundation,” he remarked.

Former World Chess Champion, Kasparov Storms Nigeria

Nigerian chess scene will hug global limelight this week, when the former World Chess champion, Gary Kasparov, hit the country for a three-day visit with his famous Chess Foundation.

The visit will be the first time the chess genius will be coming to any West African nation but more importantly, the visit may be the tonic the chess federation needs to kick start it's long aged dream of 'Chess In School' programme which is already existing on a small scale in some private institutions.

The Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF), President Mr. Lekan Adeyemi disclosed over the weekend that the entire board of the federation is delighted to receive the chess icon and his team for formal discussions on the possibility of the Kasparov Chess Foundation coming to play a key role in chess development among the pupils in Nigeria.

"We (the NCF board) are glad that Kasparov and his team are coming here to work out the modalities for his Chess Foundation to operate here too after it's success in other developing chess nations," he commented in a telephone interview.

Although the Russian Grandmaster is a candidate for the next FIDE election in August this year, Mr. Adeyemi reinstated that the visit is strictly for chess development and not politics.

"We are aware that he is a candidate for the next FIDE election but Nigeria is yet to make a stand on whether we will support him or not. More importantly, this Foundation has being in operation in Africa since 2012 and we are glad to be a beneficiary of this great icon's initiative in chess.

According to the itinerary released last night, the 11-man team will arrive Abuja Thursday night in a private jet and are expected to meet the board of the NCF at the Hilton Hotel Abuja.

On Friday, 31 January, the combined team of the KCF-AFRICA and the NCF will visit the Hon. Minister and Chairman, National Sports Commission, The Honourable Minister of Education and the Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education.

The team will fly down to Lagos where they will meet with prominent captains of Industries, the Media and stake holders of chess in the country before departing the country in the continuation of the tour of other African countries.

The Kasparov Chess Foundation officially launched its African operations in March 2012 with the aim to promote chess as a tool for education and social development across the broader African continent.

The foundation in its bid to facilitate it's planned expansion have recently partnered with the trustees of a proven chess in schools program called MiniChess. The MiniChess program has been developed over years of teaching chess to “entry phase” learners (five to eight years) as part of their school curriculum.

It is currently used with great success in more than 170 schools in South Africa and reaches more than 45 000 learners per week. The program is expanding rapidly and we already have advanced plans in place to launch formal operations in Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda during the 2014 school year.

It is hoped that in the next few years, the MiniChess program will reach out to the entire African continent as a tool to help address the educational needs of foundation phase learners.

Nigeria, Egypt Dominate Lagos International Chess Classics

After four-days of action, host – Nigeria and Egypt tied in their rating to dominate the Lagos International Chess Classics.

After seven round of matches, Nigeria’s trio of Omoifo Osemekhia, Ochuko Onovughe and Emmanuel Maduagwuna tied with Egypt’s duo of Abdelrahman Hesham and Mohammed Ezat to share the star prize.

The five players all tied with six points each, while the grandmaster, Serbia’s Dejan Antic and Uganda international master, Elijah Emojong, who were topping after six round of matches lose their last match to settle for 5.5points.

According to the tournament director, Adebayo Babalola, the competition has been successful with the players benefiting from taking part.

 “I think every player that took part in the championship has commended the organization while the foreigners were not left out of this and this for us will spur us on to do better in subsequent editions,” he said.
  Babalola added: “The unrated players will surely improve in their ranking while the rated ones will get improved ranking from the World Chess Federation (FIDE). This alone for us has scored the tournament high and we believe our players have indeed gained from participating in the competition.”

Meanwhile, a one-day lecture for players that took part in the championship holds today. It will be handled by the Serbian grandmaster.

Aside from the lecture, the Serbian is expected to play an exhibition matches with 20 selected players including the top five in the U-14 category.

According to the tournament director, Adebayo Babalola, the essence of the lecture was to improve the skills of the players as well as to expose them to what obtains globally.

 “Basically, the lecture is to update the knowledge of our players and the grand master who is also an expert in the game will handle the lecture. We are hoping that from this, they will improve their skills and also get to know the new tips in the game.

20 selected players both male and female will play an exhibition match with the Serbian grand master. For us, it is an opportunity for us that we have a grand master and it behooves on us to avail ourselves this opportunity by tapping from the knowledge of the Serbian,” Babalola said.

  Over 145 players including 40 students took part in the four-day tournament held at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

MOC Stakes N3.4m For Lagos International Chess Classics.

The Main Organising Committee (MOC) of the Lagos Sports Classics as staked the sum of three point five million naira as prize money for the Lagos International Chess Classics.

Serbia’s grand master, Dejan Antic arrived the country on Sunday for the tournament, which kick off on Monday at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

 According to the tournament director, Babalola Adebayo, the turnout of players for the competition has been overwhelming with most of Nigeria’s top players confirming their participation, adding that all arrangement has been concluded to ensure a world-class championship.

Aside the Serbian grand master, international masters within Nigeria including Bunmi Olape, Fola Akintola, Odion Aikhoje and Oladapo Adu will jostle for honours in the championship.

 As one of the series in the Lagos-organised Sports Classics, the Lagos International Chess Classics has been approved by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) as a ranking event.

Chairman, Main Organising Committee (MOC), Wahid Oshodi the tournament would help to improve the skills of Nigerian players.

“After the successful staging of the table tennis event, the Lagos Chess Classics is another events in the Lagos Sports Classics and it promises to be exciting considering the quality of players expected to grace the championship.

We have taken every step to ensure that we maintain the high standards we have set for this series of events and again, we are appealing to our friends in the media to continue to help us inform the public about this event.

We want the fans to come in and support the international and local players to do their best,” Oshodi said.

Belarus, Romania, Others Confirm For Lagos International Chess Classics.

Bunmi Olape.

Grand and International Masters from Belarus, Romania, Egypt and Uganda have confirmed their participating in the Lagos International Chess Classics holding next week.

The tournament is one of the series in the Lagos-organised Sports Classics and has been endorsed by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) as a ranking event as the tournament holds on Tuesday, eight through Friday, eleventh of October, 2013, at Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

According to the Main Organising Committee (MOC), one of world’s grandmaster, Belarus’ Sergei Kasparov, as well as Woman Grand Master (WGM), Alina L’Ami of Romania have signified their interest to be part of the four-day championship in Lagos.

 The 45 year-old Belarus’ number 12 rated player will compete alongside Egypt’s trio of Mohamed Ezat, Abdelrahman Hesham and Walaa Sarwat.

The three Egyptians are International Masters with Hesham being the youngest of them.

Also, Uganda’s sole International Master, Elijah Emojong, who is also Uganda’s number one rated player will be in Lagos for the competition.

Bunmi Olape will spearhead Nigeria’s International Masters, while others are Fola Akintola, Odion Aikhoje and Oladapo Adu.

However, the Chairman, Main Organising Committee (MOC), Wahid Oshodi said that the tournament would be well organized according to international standard.

“The Lagos Chess Classics is one of the events in the Lagos Sports Classics and it is coming after the publicly acclaimed successful table tennis event of the classics. We have taken every step to ensure that we maintain the high standards we have set for this series of events.

Once again, we are appealing to our friends in the media to continue to help us inform the public about this event. We want the fans to come in and support the international and local players to do their best.”

 He added: “The Chairman of the Lagos State Chess Association (LSCA), Fela Bank-Olemoh with his team, the NCF along with FIDE have worked very hard to put all necessary processes in place to ensure an excellent tournament in a safe and secure atmosphere. And we believe that events like this will help increase the appeal of chess to our sports loving public.”

It would be recalled that the President of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, lauded Nigeria for joining the league of countries staging international tournaments.

Also, the President, Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF), Lekan Adeyemi, has thrown his weight behind championship, while also pledging support for the Lagos Classics.

The players would compete in three categories and these are men and women Open as well as Under 14 boys and girls. This is the first international chess tournament to be staged in Nigeria this year.