“One of our aims is to have the league running,” Sitale emphasised. He said chess is played in about 80 percent of secondary schools in Botswana and now their aim is to take it to primary schools. Like any other sport, chess is very strategic, hence it would help develop strategic planning towards the attainment of some Vision 2016 goals.

He reiterated that the coming of Anand last year inspired the committee and set chess on the route to revival.

In his first official speech since taking office this year, the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tuelo Serufo also applauded Mahindra for “ploughing back into the community” in which they operate.

Source: http://www.gazettebw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5615:mahindra-sponsors-botswana-chess-league-&catid=16:sports&Itemid=2

With best play between two elite players, chess games are primarily drawn. Moving first (regardless of what color the pieces are) does not constitute a concrete advantage. After playing 1.e4 or 1.d4, you do not have an advantage… chess is not that concrete. It’s subtle. Tempos are lost and gained throughout the battle.

http://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2009/09/02/south-africa/

We should be looking forward at this point. Be that as it may, what did Anand’s visit do to help the promotion of chess in Africa? Let us speak on what happened and what it means to the continent. Botswana did Africa a great service.

However, we also need more reports on what else happened in Botswana. While I would certainly like to believe in GENS UNA SUMAS, I know from the last Olympiad that we are far from reaching this goal. Anand’s visit may have provided some attention, but ultimately Africans (and the Diaspora) are responsible.

We cannot hope that elite GMs are going to save chess in Africa. However, if they do a goodwill visit or play in a tournament, there has to be an apparatus in place to publicize these events and follow-up with a cogent plan of action.

Personally, I like men who take a stand on issues and pursue what they believe in. Nigel Short and Jackie Ngubeni of South Africa together supported Bessls Kok with the kind of passion that I am yet to see anywhere in the chess world. At least everyone knew where they stood during that election and that is what was important. They did not stand on the fence like some did. They gave their all to what they believed in.

Even though Nigeria supported Ilyumzhinov during that election, some of us felt impressed by the issues and the courage exhibited by Nigel and Jackie that we were compelled to stand shoulder to shoulder with them for their spirited fight during that election. After all, we are all Gens Una Sumus – one family.

Having said that, judging from his actions above, if Nigel believes in a cause, we can be sure that he will purse it energetically as he did during that election. So don’t be surprised if he comes back to Africa someday to promote chess. I guess what he will need is some kind of invitation and proper planning. We definitely need Grandmasters like him to work with visionary chess officials in Africa .

And yes, to quote Mehul in 22 above.. ” He was friendly and easy to get along with. At some point we even forgot he was a celebrity and just treated him like one of the local players”. That is the way Nigel Short is from the little I saw of him at the Turin Olympiad. This is an accurate assesment of the man.

As for the question posed by Daaim, ” ….. the issue is what lasting effect can a chess master have in these countries. I felt Anand’s visit was not given any attention whatsoever in the African press. This is the World Champion visiting” . My answer to this is proper planning….

If I am on the ground somewhere in an African country (I do live in Houston, Texas for now) and a big GM or a world champion for that matter is coming to town, you can bet that all the schools and all the media in that country will be aware of this. I will even arrange for the GM to have a simul right in front of the national assembly where the law makers are or somewhere near the Presidential palace if it’s in Nigeria. What’s the point of this? Take advantage of the visit while you can. Bring the chess master in front of those who can do something about chess in that country. Make it easy for them to interact with the chess master and more…… Again my short answer to this is proper planning and promotion galore.

Now this is not saying that the Botswana chess officials did not plan well for this event (and they did very well for even organizing this visit in the first place and i dont have all the facts to even say much here) but just articulating what I will do if I were to plan such a visit. It’s a sport that is at a disadvantage already. We just have to maximize our efforts at every opportunity that opens up to us. That is my point.