Top chess officials visit Malawi

Officials from Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) are visiting the country to follow up on a pledge Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov made to support domestic primary schools chess development.

Marisa Van de Merve and Andile Mbeki have since arrival on Sunday held meetings with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Principal Secretary Justin Saidi, sports director Jameson Ndalama and Malawi Schools Sports Association (Massa) general secretary Blackson Malamula in Lilongwe.

They also visited some schools in Zomba and Blantyre on Monday and also met Sports Council officials.

According to Chess Association of Malawi (Chessam) general secretary Leonard Sharra, the Zomba schools earmarked for the chess initiative are also part of the Millennium Development Programme.

“Marisa is manager and founder of MiniChess Programme in South Africa while Andile is one of the trustees for the programme. MiniChess is implementing the KCF Africa Chess in Schools project,” said Sharra.

“The delegation has come to follow up on the Chess in Schools Project, which will be undertaken in a number of primary schools in Malawi on a pilot phase with full funding from KCF Africa,” he said.

Kasparov pledged to sponsor the project when he had an audience with ministers of Education and Sports during his visit to Malawi in July this year.

Some schools are short-listed for the pilot phase, hence the meeting with Massa representatives before the programme rolls out.

“Making a presentation from KCF, Marisa said KCF was ready to roll out the programme in 10 primary schools and provide all the needed materials such as learning manuals and chess equipment.

“The foundation also plans to orient the school trainers and train more trainers in Malawi,” said Sharra.

Saidi assured Chessam and KCF of government’s full support towards the programme.

The visitors wound up their tour with a visit to some Blantyre primary schools on Monday and are scheduled to leave the country today.