Kasparov, Zuma and chess all over African media

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

A media blitz is normal if a legendary chess player and the president of a country talk about something! So, we were quite happy to find a lot of chess stories coming of of Africa these last few days. Today, most of the headlines were about the positive impact of chess on children and their schooling - thanks of course to Gary Kasparov and President Zuma.

Chess an educational tool - Zuma

Pretoria - Chess programmes should be encouraged among young people as the game could help them in their schoolwork, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday. He was speaking after a brief meeting with former world chess champion and Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov at the president's official residence in Pretoria. Read the full story here.

Kasparov Foundation with a base in Johannesburg

"It is so important for young people, particularly at schools, as an educational tool," said Zuma. He said Kasparov had briefed him on a few chess programmes to be started in the country and told him he was pleased with the progress made. Of course I also love this game... it's very nice," he said. Kasparov said he would have a base in Johannesburg for his Kasparov Chess Foundation. Read the full story here.

Kasparov yields draw in simul, plays atop Table Mountain
Kasparov was in Cape Town to promote a joint venture between his foundation and a local NGO providing local chess-based mathematics and science programmes aimed at under-privileged children. Yesterday the Russian played simultaneous chess matches against 25 young people in Khayelitsha. After going toe-to-toe with Daniel Barrish for three hours, the international chess grandmaster settled for a draw with the Grade 6 SACS pupil. Read the full story here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com