A New York-based charity, The Gift of Chess wants to extend the footprint of the game of chess across the globe and has found an ambassador to carry the flame across South Africa.
This week, IOL spoke to the founder of the KwaZulu-Natal Chess Academy and professional chess coach, Erik Takawira, who was chosen to donate the 1,000 chess sets across the country, with many more to come.
The Gift of Chess said its vision was to give away a million chess sets by 2030, according to its website.
The organisation has worked mainly across Africa and within the United States.
The chess sets are meant to go to schools, community centres, orphanages, informal settlements, and even prisons, Takawira said.
“The idea is to try and light a fire around the game of chess, to get people excited to play it, and to learn more about it. To create a community around chess and try and get it to every corner of South Africa.
“So this American organisation called the Gift of Chess contacted me and told me what they plan on doing. So I joined because I also wanted to see the game grow in places where it wouldn’t normally reach.
“The 1,000 chess sets they sent are just to kick-start the programme. Each African nation will initially get 1,000 sets, and then, depending on the demand and how it's received, they will send us more.
“The idea is to have a low-cost method that will bring people together, to have a chess set in every community,” Takawira said.
The professional chess world is one of glitz and glam recently, with much publicity given to world champions like Magnus Carlson of Norway.
But the game needs to penetrate the hearts and minds of children in townships and informal settlements as well, for it creates critical and forward-thinking thinkers, the former South African National Junior coach explained.
While physically redundant, the game of chess requires players to possess a cunning yet intellectual ability, capable of seeing things that are not in play until they materialise them.
It requires a player to know how to set traps that their opponent will fall into and how to hide their moves, arguably the skills required to live a happy and successful life.
“I hope to send chess sets to all nine provinces of South Africa,” Takawira told IOL.
IOL