KOJO HASFORD AND ANGELA AYIKU SUCCESSFULLY DEFEND NATIONAL CHESS TITLES IN GHANA
PRESS RELEASE – 2014 NATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
Kojo Hasford, defended the National Title when he obtained 7½ points out of 9 games played, while Angela Ayiku won the Ladies’ version in the just ended National Chess Championship sponsored by the Kasparov Chess Foundation, Zoobashop, Indomie, Sterling Project Group, Mobius Architecture and Citizen Scratch Ventures.
The 2014 National Chess Championship which was aimed at selecting the top two (2) players from both the male and female versions to represent Ghana in the pending Zonal Championships, began on Saturday 25th of October and ended on Sunday 2nd November, 2014.
The Championship, which featured a strong field of players including Dr Sekou Nkrumah, an avid chess player and son of our illustrious First President of the Republic of Ghana, saw Kojo Hasford brush aside all opposition to successfully defend the title he won last year. Angela Ayiku also scraped through stiff opposition from Dorcas Allotey and Sarah Sena to defend her title.
The Vice President of the Ghana Chess Association Philp Ameku, who was happy with the final results, urged the Government to make the game of chess part of the educational or sporting curriculum of the Basic and Second Cycle schools.
According to him, chess is one of the most powerful educational tools available to strengthen a child’s mind. It enhances the concentration, patience and perseverance of an individual. It also develops his or her creativity, intuition, memory and ability to analyse and deduce from a set of general principles how to make tough decisions and solve problems flexibly.
He further mentioned that the game should be taken seriously as it is one of the games Ghana could win medals given the needed sponsorship, motivation and support.
The Treasurer of the Association, Amexo Ambrose further indicated that funding has been the major bane to the growth of the game in the country. He pleaded with the corporate bodies to come to their aid and went on to thank the sponsors of this year’s championships for their assistance.
C.ASHLEY
SEC. GEN
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