Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Mountain Kingdom chess society will this week enjoy the presence of a 52 year-old chess grandmaster from England, Nigel Short, who arrived in the country yesterday afternoon and is set leave the country on Thursday after having different activities with different departments in the local chess community.
Nigel is the third highest-rated chess player in England and is also the 1993 championship challenger. He is holding position 47 in the world top 100 players and his rating is 2698 while the top player in the world is Magnus Carlsen, 27 years old, from Norway with a 2827 rating.
Talking to Informative Sport, Chess Federation of Lesotho (CFL) acting president, Tlhoriso Morienyane said during his stay in Lesotho, Short will have a seminar with local coaches and players.
Besides that he will also equip the federation with marketing skills. According to Morienyane, 30 to 35 selected players will have a chance to play against Short at the same time – a simultaneous game.
“Playing against such high rated someone who has been the world challenger, high rated coach and chess columnist we hope will motivate and inspire our chess players,” said Morienyane.
Lesotho’s highest rated player, Kananelo Latela has a rating of 1795 and for the fact that it have been long Lesotho struggling to reach 2000 and above ratings Morienyane said they are going to use the opportunity to learn from Short what is that they have to do to get there.
He said the presence of the grandmaster will help them examine their work and learn where they are getting it wrong and which areas need to be improved and he thanked their Blue Mountain Inn, Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) and Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa for making it possible for Short to the Mountain Kingdom.
Meanwhile over the weekend CFL held a mini chess tournament at Iketsetseng Primary School. The tournament was fully sponsored by Metropolitan Lesotho.
CFL development officer, Moseli Phera told this paper that some of the players from this tournament will be part of the players who will play against Short in the simultaneous encounter.
Phera said the purpose of tournament was to give the young upcoming chess players to weigh their capability against each other and prepare young minds for a bright future and for a fast changing world. He said chess help kids to sharpen their minds and boost their problem solving techniques and that he said helps them excel in their studies.
The tournament saw Motsamai Likhapha from Seventh Day Adventist School winning the tournament cup and a gold medal while Zwakala Kopano from Phethahatso English Medium took the silver medal for position two. The bronze medal was left for Moroeng Kananelo from St Stephens Primary School.
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