Chess Heights, a monthly chess tournament held in Lagos, has been upgraded to a national event, according to organizers.
Chess Heights is the trade name for the Chess Heights Group, an organization devoted to enhancing the lives of individuals through chess as a driving force for change.
The organization was founded in 2006 by Tolulope Ogunwobi. It first started out as a chess magazine blog, but in 2010 the group began organizing monthly tournaments in Lagos, Nigeria; Chess Heights Monthly (CHM).
This was later extended to Chess Heights Academy (CHA) in 2016, with which it takes chess into primary and secondary schools.
In 2018, Chess Heights Monthly expanded to four regions in Nigeria under the name Chess Heights Events (CHE). These regions are North-Central, Chess Heights Southeast, Chess Heights Southwest and Chess Heights Northwest.
CHE is aimed at providing top quality chess tournaments for individuals who play chess at all levels.
In a statement revealing why CHM will now be a national tournament, the organizers said the development of the sport in Nigeria has largely been restricted to Lagos, while the rest of the country has been left bereft of the benefits of the beautiful game of chess. This will change when the event goes national.
“This move by Chess Heights is to make sure that the whole of Nigeria benefits from our chess developmental efforts, not just for Lagos residents, and make Nigeria truly a chess nation.
“We will achieve this by co-operating with stakeholders in every state. These include local players, state governments and the local media.”
— Tolulope Ogunwobi
Source: Punchng
Chessheight.org