LAGOS – The President, Nigeria Chess Federation, Lekan Adeyemi, on Tuesday praised the Lagos State Government for sponsoring the ongoing International Chess Classic, holding at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
Adeyemi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the event had attracted top chess players from around the world.
He expressed the hope that the competition would be sustained by the government as its contribution to the development of the sport.
“I can’t say anything but to thank the Lagos state government, this is a good initiative. But I pray and believe that this will be sustained.
“Our experiences in the past show that once the governor that is interested in it leaves office, or the commissioner that is driving the tournament leaves office, the tournament dies a natural death.
“We just hope this is an international event that has attracted top chess players in the world; you can see we have players from about eight countries playing in this tournament.
“So, it is gradually gathering momentum and gaining popularity and this is what we actually want. But if it stops next year it will be very disheartening; it will be very bad for chess in Nigeria.
“So we want to appeal to the Lagos State government, whoever is in charge of the government should please continue such initiative.“
The total prize money for the competition is $22,000.
The competition, which is the second edition, began on Oct. 21 and is expected to end on Oct. 24. (NAN)