Monrovia – Liberia is set to host the 2021 African Junior Chess Championship scheduled to take place from December 28-January 5, 2021 at the Monrovia City Hall in Sinkor.
According to the Chess Federation of Liberia, the tournament has two sections – the Open Section for players aged 20 years or less and a Female Section for talented African girls 20 years and below.
Each African Federation is allowed to send 3 participants for each section but host nation(Liberia) will field five players with an option of registering up to 7 participants the organizer has disclose
This year’s African Junior Chess Championship is the second major chess event that Liberia has hosted.
The first was the West African Zonal Chess Tournament hosted in 2017.
The week-long tournament has already started to attract the attention of over 150 boys and girls from 15 African Countries who will lock horns in the nine-round swiss tournament.
The organizers have informed participants that the competition will only feature players at age 20 and below as participants.
Hosts Liberia is expected to be joined by several federations from around Africa to include; Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mail, Malawi and among others.
Meanwhile for a successful competition the organizers have appointed a team of Arbiters that are expected to ensure the smooth and successful hosting of the event.
Those appointed to serve as arbiters include: Mr. Marouane Tabti from Algeria as the Chief Arbiter, Ivorian chess enthusiast, Mario Kpan as Deputy Chief Arbiter, FIDE Arbiter, Mr. Kemo K. Sambola, while a Liberian chess promoter will server as the tournament’s Sector Arbiter. Mr. Tamba William Saa, the current Secretary General of the Liberia Chess Federation has also been appointed by the ACC to serve as Arbiter.
Phoning in on a local sports show over the weekend, the president of the Liberia Chess Federation Williams Telebo Thompson said arrangements are in place to host a successful tournament.
He at the same time expressed confidence in the potential in the Liberian squad to win the ultimate in their respective categories.
“This is a good opportunity for us to showcase our talent in chess as a country and certainly Liberia will emerge victorious,” Williams T. Thompson told a local radio station.
He urged Liberians to turnout at the venue to support their team.
Meanwhile, the LCF President has announced that there will be a fundraising dinner hosted this Friday December 10 at the Corina Hotel at 7pm in support of the event.
According to him, the intended purpose of the dinner is to raise awareness about the tournament and generate money for the smooth running of the tournament.