Kunle Adelabu
Mr Oyeleye Lawale, is one of the few Chess Chief Arbiters in Lagos State. He was on duty for three days at the just concluded second edition of the Danhypro Chess Tournament which was held in Ikorodu last weekend.
In an interview with the Publisher/ Reporter-in-Chief of THE IMPACT, Kunle Adelabu who covered the event, Lawale, who is also a top Chess player, said that the future of Chess in Nigeria is very bright going by the top-notch performances put up by junior and inexperienced players at the Danhypro tournament.
He also bore his mind on what the players should expect in the third edition of the Danhypro tournament and how the young Chess players discovered at the event are going to be developed. Excerpt:
THE IMPACT: How will you rate the performances of players, especially the junior ones, in the Danhypro Chess lnvitational tournament which you arbitrated for three days?
Lawale: The performances at the tournament were top-notch because the level of playing by the players that were invited in both the junior and senior categories, was impressive and highly technical.
The invited junior players came to prove that they have arrived. They put up better and stiffer challenges compared to what we had in the first edition.
If we continue like this, Nigeria Chess game will go places in the world. If we have good administrators managing the Chess federation, we would have top players playing in the elite level in the next ten years.
Here are junior players who are 15, 16, 17 and 18 years and are already competing with the senior players. The youngest among the senior players is the former highest national junior player who is now an adult and is the winner of this tournament.
If we have players of 14, 16, 16 and 17 years dominating now, imagine what would become of them in the next ten years.
Mind you, they too will have to face same stiff competition from those that are younger than them in the next few years.
THE IMPACT: What is the Chess federation and Danhypro doing about detecting players at the grassroots and nurturing them into limelight?
Lawale: Danhypro tournament is also about detecting players at the grassroots. For example, a player called Emmanuel Idara Joy was hardly known. He came all the way from Benin to compete in this tournament. He performed well and he’s among the top ten.
We have coaches and even the federation detecting these children from their early age in schools.
THE IMPACT: Having successfully staged the second edition of the Danhypro Chess competition, what should chess players and enthusiasts be expecting next from Danhypro?
Lawale: The first Danhypro tournament had a prize money of N450, 000. That was the total prize money for the seven senior and junior players that participated in the tournament. That money was increased in the just concluded edition to a sum that was above half a million naira for the invited nine senior and junior players.
Going forward, we are very sure and confident that the tournament prize money would go higher, though, the number of participants won’t increase.
When we start appreciating and giving adequate rewards, the sky will be the starting point.
The third edition is going to be beautiful. We will have more electronic boards to cover everybody because we are broadcasting the game live to every Chess player and enthusiasts across the globe.
The third edition would be better than this in terms of organisation and prizes.
THE IMPACT: Any plan in place to monitor and guide those junior players that participated in this edition?
Lawale: Some of the junior players that participated in this tournament will be representing Nigeria in the African Youth Chess Championship coming up later this year.
We have seen them competing very well against the best of the best in Nigeria and from here, they are going to be exposed. That’s what we will do and that’s how we will bring out the best in our players.
