Anand to visit Botswana!

GM Viswanathan Anand

World Champion Viswanathan Anand

This is announcement of a pending visit to Africa by World Champion Viswanathan Anand. This may mark the first time a World Champion has traveled to the continent. Botswana has previously hosted GM Judit Polgar, one of the strongest players in history… female or otherwise.

Kenneth Boikhutswame told The Chess Drum that the initiative was made possible by the Botswana branch of NIIT, one of Anand’s supporters. He wants to use this opportunity to attract more sponsorship to Botswana chess. The story comes as a pleasant surprise and on the heels of the African Championship and Amon Simutowe conferral of the Grandmaster title.

The Indian became the NIIT Brand Ambassador in 1997. There is clearly great synergy between the world champion of the mind game and the Information Technology education giant, NIIT, demonstrated by the over 12 year relationship.

World Chess Champion Comes to Botswana,”
Mmegi Online, 10 August 2009.

World Champion comes to Country,”
allafrica.com, 10 August 2009.

COMPLETE SCHEDULE
DINNER

12 Comments

  1. It will be a privillege for our continent to host the great and yet so humble world champion. I Wish he could reach as far as Zambia.

  2. Thats a nice development.Botswana is definately rising to another level.Anand will surely prove as a motivational icon to most Africans he will come in contact with.

    Now to my main concern..hasn’t anyone got info on the BOTSWANA OPEN CHESS TOURNEY. There’s absolutely nothing pertaining to it on the net and rumours seem to continue pouring in. We need invitation letters,notification,cost breakdown &stuff like that. Somebody do something.

  3. Hmm, Vishy to Africa !? Wow! outta the clear Blue Sky!!! Theses guys are good , since they sending him to Africa one can surmise that the Africans are pretty impressive. I wonder what thoses Africans are up to now, maybe they been studying in private,secretly!!! Im up in age now memory fading, can anyone tell me if the country Bostswana is the one that got beat something like 42 to nothing vs “The Russians” in the Olympics? Are they now showing “concern” for the Africans by sending Vishy? Oh well i guess ill just “hang in there” and not give up like they suggest , HMM maybe this is the old “fly in the oinment” theory> STAY TUNED.

  4. No… that wasn’t the Olympiad. That was a team championship for women with ten four-board teams. Botswana was the only African team and they were unable to score in 36 games. However, they faced the strongest female teams in the world and were simply not prepared.

  5. Lionel Davis
    Anything wrong bring the world champion to Botswana? How does one improve his current chess Davis? Seat and relax and expect the good to come? Prepare and fine tune your chess prowess. Play with the champions and get the other dimensions of chess. It cant be achieved over night, but thats the way to go about it. Failure is a first step of learning. Get beaten 36 nil and take it from there.

  6. Well Mr. Bolt congratulations on your record breaking runs,well done. I dont see anything wrong nor do i recall suggesting that there was something wrong with Vishy to Africa, however correct me if im wrong but i believe Simutowe is from Africa and they can easily sponsor him but somehow they “lose” funds or some other nonsense! As far as being prepared, Mr. Bolt do you really think, (a) im going to put my son Shaka in front of the whole world with 1.e5! (b) play the Ultrapirc vs their best guys on icc (c) email President Obama and the White House (d) Then the NBA drop that sweet chess video on the world (e) sit back and watch European Assizes like nige short try and catch up to the Ultrascience if i wasnt completely prepared ! Trust my friend im more prepared than you can possibly imagine! Peace.

  7. Bolt,

    Anand’s visit to Botswana is historic. I believe the point is that in addition to these exhibitions, other steps are needed to avoid a 0/36 fiasco. Perhaps the good in this episode is that the players learned where they stood in respect to the other nations. It destroyed all illusions, but may have destroyed some of the confidence players had. Has Tuduetso Sabure played much since that disaster? I think she has taken a nursing profession, but to disappear from chess is tragic.

  8. This is an achievement, i think the organisers and Botwana Chess Federation deserve big ups for this because i dont think the game results matter as much as the IMPACT this will have on the future of chess in the region. This will sure leave a mark, If GM Polgar left a mark, how about World Champion GM Anand?!

  9. I has been written that in due time an season if you are faithful, dedicated and searching for the “truth that in time, the truth will find you!” Congrats to any and all promotional concepts that advance the game, science or art of chess. If something is meant to be it will come to pass!! Their are some that will disagree but in time they too will see the “truth”!

  10. Watched several martial arts movies yesterday after getting them converted from VHS to DVD. What is clear in these documentary videos is the amount of work put in by the artists. Three of these movies highlighted the careers of famous martial arts stars and those who came through the Chinese Opera school practiced from 5am – 9pm for years at a time.

    When they became martial artists, that discipline helped people like Jackie Chan channel his phenomenal abilities into acting. There were several others who spoke of this regiment. Some were dedicated martial artists who excelled in different styles.

    If players of African descent are to improve, then there will have to be a level of committment to reach the top level. There are three 2500-level Black GMs at this point and no one else is close to getting three norms. Those who have a history of success (i.e., Emory Tate and Watu Kobese) lie in the sunset of their careers. Perhaps it is economically infeasible to be a professional at chess, unless one has a support structure.

  11. Here is the overview from Kenneth Boikhutswane.

    OVERVIEW OF ANAND’S VISIT TO BOTSWANA

    Botswana Chess Federation will host World Chess Champion, Grandmaster Vishy Anand of India from 28th-30th August 2009. This historic move is a result of the partnership forged between BCF and NIIT Botswana. GM Anand is the brand ambassador of NIIT internationally. BCF believes that Anand’s visit will stimulate chess interest in Botswana and lead to investment in our beautiful game.

    Anand is scheduled to arrive in Botswana on August 28th, and no chess activity is planned for that day. While in Botswana, GM Anand will engage in two simultaneous displays.

    The first, scheduled for the morning of 29th and involving a total of fourty (40) players, will be mainly against NIIT students, students from the University of Botswana, as well as primary school students selected by BCF. This event will be attended by 500 invited guests comprising chess fans, parents, players, the corporate sector as well as government officials. Following the simul, Anand will address the gathering explaining the benefits of taking up chess. He will thereafter visit Mokolodi Nature Reserve where he will get an opportunity to see different animals like elephants, cheetars, rhinos and others.

    BCF has arranged a dinner for him as per the programme attached, where current and potential sponsors, the media, players, parents and other stakeholders will attend. This presents the best platform for all to get an insight of why kids should be encouraged to play chess. As BCF we want to work out a model along the lines of Mind Champions Academy in India in order to get many Botswana children to play chess.

    The visit has been covered in all major print media houses, in all radio stations in the country as well as on the state owned Botswana Television. GM Judit Polgar was keenly followed when she visited here, but the interest generated by Anand is big. All radio stations wanted him to feature in their programs for up to 1hr, but of course a tight schedule meant we can accommodate them only as a group. Our players are also waiting and surely working on springing a surprise or two on the champion, so we will see how Anand will cope!

    Due to the short nature of the visit and the fact that we had to get everything sorted out in less than three weeks, it may be that friends from the neighbouring countries would like to attend some of the functions. They can direct their requests to me at my email address; kboikhutswane@hotmail.com.

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