No fewer than 179 children participated in a chess tournament organised by Smashing Gambits, in Saint Timothy College, in Iwaya, Yaba area of Lagos State.
The Founder and organiser of Smashing Gambits, Samuel George, told our correspondent on Saturday in Lagos that the idea was to get more children off the street using sport development, particularly at the grassroots.
George said that in 2015, he came up with the idea of teaching kids chess in Iwaya and organised his first competition in 2016 which had now metamorphosed into Smashing Gambits.
“I am happy with the improvement and impact the competition is making. In the first tourney, we had only 16 children but now we have 179 participants.
“I feel happy and a sense of accomplishment although there is still more to be done,” he said.
George said that the major challenge in organising competitions for the benefit of the children was sponsorship because of the financial aspect to cater for the cash prizes, logistics and miscellaneous.
“I believe in giving out cash prizes as reward because the tournament is always targeted toward when children will be resuming to help them better equip themselves for their education.
“So, a few of my personal friends and myself came together to organise this tourney and donate these prizes as a way of giving back to the community,” he said.
Reports have it that the cash prize for the first, second and third positions for the U-20 category was N75, 000, N50, 000 and N25,000; while the U-15 category was N50, 000, N35, 000 and N20, 000; and the U-9 category was N40,000, N20,000 and N15, 000 respectively.
There was also a prize of N50,000, N25,000 and N20,000 for the ‘Best Female’ category.
George said this was created to encourage female participants knowing well that males would dominate the score board.
Callistus Eyetonghan came first in the U-20, John Mufutau came second in the U-15 and Chiamaka Nwankwo came first in the U-9 while the Best Female went to Joy Onoja, Anuoluwajimika Adepoju and Chiamaka Nwankwo respectively.
George, however, urged players to desist from lying about their ages just to participate in a tourney.
He said that age falsification was one of the challenges encountered frequently over his four years experience in organising chess competitions.
The chess enthusiast said that players sometimes lied about their age so that they could participate and win the prize in a particular category meant for another age group.
“Players should not lie about their age to participate in a particular category because by lying, they are already defeating the leadership qualities we are trying to imbibe in them.
“If you are good, you are good but if not, you can get better through practice which is even more rewarding when you see yourself winning as a result of your hard work.
“So, I advice parents, guidance and coaches to ensure that their children or wards do the right thing and not lie to participate in any tournament,” he said.
Also speaking, Kehinde Boyo, a FIDE Arbiter, said that he was particularly impressed with the performance of eight -year-old Chiamaka Nwankwo who had been winning all her tournaments.
“So, with the turnout and the discovery of young new talents, this is an indication that there is potential for chess development at the grassroots.
“However, we need sponsors for the development of the sport by organising more competitions and giving out attractive prizes that will serve as a reward for hard work,” Boyo said.
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