Chess In West Africa
For many in West Africa, the game of Chess has been dubbed esoteric and elitist.
This narrative is changing daily, with the emergence of Non-Profit Organizations like Chess In Slums Africa, the Gift of Chess, and other prominent organizations promoting Chess in this region.
Although there are no Grandmasters in West Africa, several promising and passionate Chess talents exist. Still, they need more exposure and tools for Chess improvement and mastery.
Passion alone cannot guarantee Chess mastery. Access to the right training tools, a Chess community, coaching, and the needed exposure is necessary.
The Chess Tent platform may help foster Chess growth in West Africa.
African Chess Challenges
There is no doubt that African Chess players have a knack for Chess, but some challenges restrict their growth.
Most of these challenges stem from the dire economic situation in the region.
For example, Nigerian-born Tanitoluwa Adewumi, who aspires to be the youngest Chess Grandmaster, would never have had the exposure he now has if he were still in Nigeria.
Talent is universal, but opportunity is not. -Kennedy Odede
Let’s take a look at some of these challenges.
Infrastructure challenge
Only some African children can boast of having a computer, which is a necessity for Chess study these days. Digital infrastructures (devices, etc.) are needed for Chess study, play, and improvement.
For most West African parents, providing devices for their children to play a game is preposterous whilst they still struggle to take their children to school.
This further proves the elitist nature of Chess to them.
For them, Chess is not a typical game that you could quickly learn and be good at.
Lack of localized chess materials
Once upon a time, most of the Chess literature was written in Russian. Even upon translation, only a few Africans could access this because of the language, especially francophone Africa.
Exposure and access to suitable materials remain substantial limitations to the growth of West African Chess. If you look closely enough, you can trace these back to the dire economic situation in the region.
Exposure to International Chess tournaments
Understandably, it is expensive for most African Chess players to sponsor themselves in International Chess tournaments.
But without such exposure, Chess talents remain on a plateau for so long.
Playing within African shores does not guarantee that African Chess talents will develop to their full potential. The same players are being recycled, and there needs to be more push to garner practical tournament experience. At best, the tournaments hosted in most West African countries are at the Fide Master level.
Many Chess organizations in West Africa focus on helping African Chess players garner the needed tournament experience through sponsorship, training, and support.
One such organization include Go For a West African Chess GM, and the Oyo State Chess Association focused on getting West Africa her first-ever Chess Grandmaster.
Not enough mentors
The mentorship and language barrier also limit the progress of Chess in the African region.
To be the best, you have to learn from the best.
Even the best Chess players still have coaches and mentors, not because they don’t already know how to play, but to keep them improving strategically.
For many West African players, this concept of mentorship has yet to be practiced to the core.
First, how do they get access to the best players?
How can they afford the time of these said mentors?
How do they break the barrier of language?
Top Chess players from Africa do their bit to inspire upcoming Chess talents, but more is needed. For example, the top players are International Masters and can only mentor within their knowledge base.
Chess Tent might also help tackle some challenges through mentorship and lesson programs.
What is Chess Tent?
The goal of Chess Tent is to provide affordable mentorship to Chess improvers all around the World.
It is a unique online Chess platform built to provide a dedicated space for Chess coaches and learners at all levels.
The platform helps coaches and learners to connect, teach, and study Chess interactively and proficiently with the best online tools, run on an open-source code and free to use.
Some of the main features of the platform:
- Find a coach: Like in a virtual gym, you can practice independently, but training with a mentor is proven more potent.
- Create custom-tailored practice: Coaches can create personalized training for their students by using ‘Templates’, a tool for preparing different kinds of examples and exercises per your student’s Chess needs and pace.
- Real-time lessons: Coaches can conduct classes with students in real-time — all that is needed is to be in the room simultaneously as the student and connect over video and audio conferencing.
The platform also has an interactive Chessboard, Chess engine, and chatrooms, giving coaches and learners a fantastic experience.
Chess Tent in Africa
Many may argue that West Africa has yet to have Grandmasters due to a lack of top-tier Chess training from seasoned Chess professionals and coaches.
The platform may answer the question of accessibility to Chess coaching for Africans and provide the training required to learn Chess in a fun and relaxed space.
There is a good blend of Chess coaches on the platform from different backgrounds, languages, and rating levels, allowing Chess learners to reach their Chess goals.
One of the best ways to learn is to teach.
West Africa has a sizeable number of International Masters (IM) and Fide Masters (FM). Their coaching involvement can positively impact the up-and-coming Chess improvers in the region, and one platform that can facilitate this is Chess Tent.
Also, on the platform, African Chess improvers can access advanced coaches outside their region.
Although there are some technical challenges regarding coverage and access, the platform is growing, and a lot of work is ongoing to make it scalable in the foreseeable future.
The passion and devotion to becoming a top coaching platform will continue to drive Chess Tent.
Chess in schools with Chess Tent
The platform is suitable for Chess in School programs now widespread in West Africa. Schools can create curriculums on the platform for their students.
Renowned African players and coaches all around the World can use the platform to create Chess curriculums and lessons for their students using the Template function on Chess Tent.
With Templates, a coach will have access to a simulation board, with options to add moves, notes, variations, and subvariations, and create exercises and puzzles for their students, basically all that is needed to have an excellent online Chess training session.
One good thing is that you can have different templates for different students or groups of students. So, as a coach, you can create different templates whenever you have a Chess training session.
The tools and resources on the platform are continuously upgraded and improved to keep providing a beautiful experience for Chess mentorship.
A platform like Chess Tent being involved in African Chess cannot entirely solve the Chess problems in Africa, but then, it’s a good start, as they can solve a sizeable bit of the issues with the coaching resource available on their platform.
Such collaborations and teamwork will help foster Chess in West Africa, and Chess Tent is built for community.
Try out at chesstent.com.
