President Jacob Zuma Quotes on Chess

Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 

 

South African President Jacob Zuma has lauded Indian chess player Abhijit Gupta for winning the Commonwealth Championships in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth in Eastern Cape Province of the country. For a report on the event read this Chess Blog post. Here are some nice Jacob Zuma quotes on chess from the event:

Zuma earlier drew a game after 20 minutes against the youngest player in the championships, five-year-old Keagan Rowe from East London in South Africa, later saying he had sacrificed some pieces “to balance the game.”

Zuma learnt to play chess while imprisoned on Robben Island alongside former president Nelson Mandela.

“Chess provided a solace to us that we needed in those conditions of isolation and deprivation. It propelled our minds beyond the confines of the prison walls and allowed us to reflect and to position our thoughts strategically to fight the (apartheid) regime,” Zuma said as he explained how prisoners had made chess sets out of soap and driftwood.

Zuma also called for chess to be encouraged as a serious sport in schools.

“(Chess) promotes latent skills among the children, patience, quick wit, decisiveness and confidence arising from competition with counterparts, including those from outside the country,” he said.

He also said: As a country we will also count on the LOC’s commitment to supporting chess development programmes in underprivileged communities.

"We are hopeful that our collective efforts will advance chess a great deal in this country.  South Africa is the custodian of chess in the country. They have brought great pride to this country and in the last All African Games they brought back ten medals."

"I have also been informed that a young lady from these parts Ms Charlize van Zyl has been beating her opponents handsomely and won a strong event in Botswana and has become a women international master. The story of Charlize must serve as an inspiration to all the juniors here."

You can succeed if you have the commitment, dedication and passion. If you do not do well in athletic sports, chess can provide an interesting area as well. Please get involved and encourage others.

Please travel safely and to all of you that competed here, I want you to know that you are all winners.

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