Twenty-two schools from the four Lagos State Education Districts are taking part in this year’s PwC Chess4Change 2019 Grand Slam, which began yesterday at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall, Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.
The students, who went through a three-month intensive chess tutelage and two mini challenge competitions leading up to the tournament, put up an impressive performance during yesterday’s opening ceremony.
Yesterday’s event saw the students taking part in both the individual and team categories across 12 rounds, using the Swiss-system format to decide the eventual winners.
Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, the Chairman Lagos State Chess Association, Tokunbo Fagun said the competition was an opportunity to expose the students to championship atmosphere, adding that the sport would create awareness for chess, which would in turn appeal to corporate organisations to get them more involved in chess.
“With several tournaments like the PwC Chess4Change 2019 Grand Slam, it would not take long before Nigerians start ruling the world stage in the game of chess,” Fagun noted.
The championship ends tomorrow after which gifts and prizes will be presented to winners.
