All is now set for this year’s Nigerian Breweries International Open Chess Championship.
The nine-round Swiss event paring, which is the 38th edition, will hold at the Sir Modele Okoya-Thomas Multipurpose Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
Over 500 players within and outside country will from Monday, November 9 to Sunday, November 15 battle for the N3.3m prize money at stake.
Unfolding plans for the event, the Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc., Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, who was represented by the Corporate Media/Brand Public Relations Manager, Mr. Edem Vindah, said that the total prize money in all the categories of play would be N3, 390,000 as against the N2.5m that was spent last year.
He said: “We are pleased with the level of organisation of the championship over the years and delighted to raise the level of the event. For us in the company, this sponsorship remains a key element of our youth empowerment and talent development initiatives.
“It is a further demonstration of our dedication to being a responsible corporate citizen committed to winning Nigeria.
In the new arrangement, the star prize winner in the Master category will take home N1, 000,000 as against N400, 000 of the last edition. While the second placed player in the section would be rewarded with N500, 000 as against N150, 000. The third and fourth placed winners will win N250, 000 and N100, 000 respectively.
He stated that the winners in the Open and Ladies section will bag N250, 000 and N100, 000 respectively. There are considerable increase in the prizes for all winners and participants in all the categories of play namely; Masters with elo ratings of 2000+, Open (elo 1800-2000), Amateur Ladies (elo 1800), Amateur Men (elo under 1800) and under 14 Boys and Girls.
“Our company is very proud to be associated with the Nigeria Chess Federation (NCF) in their march towards producing world class chess players. The enthusiasm shown towards the game and discovery of budding talents over the years has no doubt confirmed that Nigerian Breweries’ continuous partnership with NCF is not in vain.
In his response, the President of NCF, Mr. Lekan Adeyemi, who was represented by the Director of Media and Communication of the NCF, Mr. Femi Solaja, commended the commitment of the sponsor over the years and recalled how the yearly event has produced a lot of champions and great men and women of the contemporary society.
He said: “We are particularly glad with the upward increment in the prize monies which to me will encourage further participation of the players who have been calling for an upward review in the incentives.
“But like Oliver Twist, we can always press for more so as to encourage strong players on the continent of Africa and Europe in the next few years.
“The unbroken 38 years of partnership is highly commendable and has made tried out progress towards effort at development of the sport.
“At the inception of this administration, Nigeria has only 28 active FIDE rated players but today we have over 150 rated players and more will emerge with continuous partnership we have with the company.