500 players for Chess Championship

By John Egbokhan
No fewer than 500 players are expected to feature in the 37th Nigerian Breweries International Open Chess Championship, holding between November 7-12 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos.

Disclosing this yesterday, the Corporate Adviser of the sponsors, Yusuf Ayeni, said the competition would be in eight categories, comprising Fide section, category I, category II, ladies, under-14 boys, under-14 girls, Sports Writers Association of Nigeria section and veterans section.

Ayeni said that N890, 000 has been earmarked as cash prizes, with the winner of the Fide section netting N200, 000 while the category I champion is expected to rake in N70, 000. The winner of the SWAN section will earn N20, 000 while the veterans champion will cart home N50, 000. Ayeni noted that the ladies category champion will gross N65, 000 while the winners in the boys and girls categories will earn N10, 000 respectively.

Also speaking, the President of the Nigeria Chess Federation, Sani Mohammed, who was represented by Femi Solaja, who is a member of the board, said that the competition was going to be used for the selection of players for the forthcoming African Junior Chess Championship. The NCF boss added that chess awareness was on the increase and thanked the sponsors for bankrolling the tourney.