Lagos set to discover more chess champions to rule the World — LSSC Chairman

Fri, Mar 29, 2019 | By publisher


Sports

THE Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Kweku Tandoh, on Thursday said that the state’s grassroots developmental chess competition was capable of producing more world Chess champions.

Tandoh said this at the closing ceremony of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) “Chess for Change” held at the Mobolaji Bank Anthony indoor sports hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.

Buoyed by the success of the eight-years-old U.S. based Nigerian asylum boy, Tanitolorun Adewunmi, who won seven chess trophies including a state tournament, Tandoh emphasised that grassroots development was key.

The young chess champion’s family are taking asylum in a homeless shelter in Manhattan after they fled the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria since 2018.

He went undefeated at the state tournament, outwitting children from elite private schools with private chess tutors.

Adewunmi’s rating is now 1587 and rising fast and he is being compared with the world’s best player, Magnus Carlsen, who stands at 2845.

Tandoh said that Adewumi’s great feat was part of the reasons the state government would not relent in its efforts at supporting grassroots sports development.

“Sports is changing the lives of the people and the only way sports can be more useful to our children is through its combination with education because they are both essential.

“In Lagos State, we cannot afford to play down the relationships that exist between sports and education because it is key to the development of any child. The 8-year-old boy in U.S. is a testimony to this.

“The family of the boy because of his feat has moved from the status of asylum seeker to a permanent resident holder. They are being given a house in the U.S., all these because he won a chess competition.

“This is the reason we have partnerships with the Ministry of Education towards encouraging our students in sports alongside their education and that is the policy which have all our underage athletes in school,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the third edition of the Slam tournament, which featured 88 players, produced Rahmon Idowu from Lagos City College, Yaba, as champions where he scored six points.

Other winners include, Moyinoluwa Lawal from Government Senior College, Eric Moore, who came second with five points, Benedict Egbe, a student of Ireti Senior Grammar School, Ikoyi, on third position with 5 points.

The fourth position went to Afolabi Emmanuel from Birrel Avenue Snr High School with 5 points, Olamide Adedeji, Government Senior College, Eric Moore, 5 points.

For the Team Category, Birrel Avenue Senior High School, Sabo, Yaba, emerged winners with 21 ½ points, while Government Senior College, Eric Moore, came second with 17 points while Lagos City College, Yaba, emerged third with 16 points. (NAN)

– Mar. 29, 2019 @ 10:55 GMT |

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