The third edition of the IDSDP (International Day of Sport for Development and Peace) invitational Chess tournament was recently held in Benin City on 6th April 2024. The tournament was organized by the Management of Life and Chess Club and it was powered by CSED (Community Sport and Educational Development) Initiative.
The event was held at the premises of Edo Innovates, along ICE Road in Benin City. Despite the heavy rain, the participants were not deterred, as they did not want to miss this date in the chess calendar of Edo State. The event was attended by chess players from far and wide, with no age limit and or high ranking on the chess board.
The event which lasted for about six hours, is a 7 rounds rapid FIDE rated tournament. During and after the tournament event, participants were provided with light refreshment by the tournament organisers. At the end of the tournament, participants of the event praised the efforts of the tournament Coordinator, Princess Omoyemwen Adeyinka-Afolabi, CSED Initiative and other sponsors of the event, for their unrelenting effort at developing chess at the grassroots level.
They also expressed their desire to continue to make good efforts in improving themselves in the game of chess, as well as pledged to take part in future IDSDP Chess Invitation Tournaments. The Management of Life and Chess Club and CSED Initiative, are current working out modalities of how to introduce chess to some selected secondary school in Benin City, as well as in other interested secondary schools in the three senatorial areas of Edo State.
They hope to achieve this goal through a chess4schools community outreach programme, which will involve teaching the students other basic soft skills and emotional intelligence skills.
