ABC club knows the right moves for game
ABC Chess Club aims to facilitate the development of chess clubs and offer training and coaching. The club has since established five chess clubs in Mbombela, Msogwaba, Hazyview, Nkomazi and KaNyamazane for both junior and senior players
The sky is the limit for a locally based chess club, ABC Chess Academy which is destined to reach great heights.
The club was founded by three chess lovers Eddie Bhila, Dumisa Nkosi and Pfumi Maluleke who have been involved with chess and its administration for a long time in and outside of the province with the intention to make the game known in Mpumalanga.
“We realised that the level of chess in the province needed our expertise. Mpumalanga has a major challenge in terms of developing chess, more especially in the previously disadvantaged schools and communities,” they explained.
ABC Chess Academy aims to reach out to all the communities further away from the central towns of all the regions in the province.
It is also to facilitate the development of chess clubs and offer training and coaching.
The club has since established five chess clubs in Mbombela, Msogwaba, Hazyview, Nkomazi and KaNyamazane for both junior and senior players.
According to Bhila, chess is an excellent activity to keep the youth out of trouble.
“It helps one develop strategic and logical thinking. It improves the level of thinking and it’s actually a priority sport that helps in decision-making,” added Maluleke.
“Thus, in terms of our development, we wish to call on all those who have lost their interest in chess and get them into clubs so we can re-educate them and involve them in teaching the young ones from primary school level to ensure sustainable development in the sport of minds,” he said.
The club prides itself in having recently produced South Africa’s chess champion, 11-year-old Lindokuhle Bhila, a grade seven learner of Msogwaba Primary School.
She has recently been crowned the national chess champion at the South African Junior Chess Championships.
Lindokuhle and her clubmate, Dicken Nkosi qualified to play in the South African Junior Closed Chess Championship in Bloemfontein from March 20 to 26. The two players will compete for a spot in the national team.
The club plans to raise the standard of chess in the province as they have the necessary skills and the expertise and capabilities to do so. The management invites stakeholders and government departments to support them. “We need corporate support in terms of sponsorships for players to represent us outside the province and for our tournaments and leagues aimed at promoting activity, competition and development in chess,”
they added.
The club also aims to select the best players of the Ehlanzeni Region to play against the best from other areas of the province on February 27 and 28. “We therefore call all players who are interested in forming clubs to communicate with us,” they said. Enquiries: 082-960-9487,
071-581-4519 or 084-403-7716.
