On Saturday September 23rd from 09.30 – 12 noon US Eastern Time there will be a new Cross Culture Girls session with a Masterclass by GM Johan Hellsten aswell as a blitz tournament that will be streamed by Ellen Nielsen The stream can be watched on our twitch channel https://twitch.tv/chess2change

If you would like to join the Cross Culture Girls program, let us know by sending an email to info@businessmeetschessandkids.com

With a perfect score of 9/9, Kenya’s 7 year old supertalent Nathaniel Manyeki just won the U8 African Youth Chess Championship. A big thank you to his coach Tom Amwai who has done an excellent job with Nathaniel and his sister Winnie who also qualified for the championship and ended up 15th in the u10 section. Nathaniel is very talented but he will need a corporate sponsor in order to be able to fulfill his full potential. If you are interested to support him then contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com Results https://chess-results.com/tnr805110.aspx?lan=1&art=0&fed=NAM&turdet=YES&flag=30

Another of our youngsters that did very well was 11-year old Elizabeth Cassidy that won a bronze medal in the u12 section. In total we had 25 kids that managed to qualify for the Championships which shows what can happen if these talented kids just get some support.

Another player that did a great tournament was Isaiah Otieno from the Mukuru Kwa Njenga slums. His trip from the slum areas to becoming National Champion, flying abroad to represent his country in a hotel in Egypt have been amazing to follow. To put more on his plate he is also one of the best students in the country with top grades so the University that decides to offer him a schoolarship will do one of their best moves ever, since Isaiah is a star. In the championship u18 section he bagged home 62 rating points and beat his first ever FIDE Master. We are very proud over all our kids that qualifed and in 2024 we are going for more medals!

The Zambian chess talent CM Kennedy Shane needs your help to improve his chess. Kennedy is in need of a computer (600USD), Chess books (600USD) and internet so he can get a chance to fulfill his potential. Please submit your donation through the link below, and mark your donation with Kennedy.

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=K99FUGQ3NZNDL

Thank You!

During June and July we hosted two big blitz tournaments for the girls engaged in our Cross Culture Girls Program. After many exciting games the happy prize winners won chessable courses so they further can develop their game. The tournaments gathered more then 100 participants from 11 different countries (Kenya, Colombia, Uganda, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria, USA and Czech Republic). An amazing diversity and many talented girls. Commentaries were made by GM Pia Cramling GM Pontus Carlsson and the streamer Jon Ulfur and the games were broadcasted on our twitch channel https://www.twitch.tv/chess2change Congratulations to the prize winners and a big thank you to Chessable.

Grandmaster Pontus Carlsson guested Tavis Smileys radioshow KBLA1580 to talk about chess, his career and his life. You can listen to the interview here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAdYHPCH0Qw

It was 12-year old Genevieve Mashao from Mombasa in Kenya and Ludvig Carlsson from NTG in Norway that won Chess 2 Change after a very exciting final against Ben Johnson from USA (The Perpetual Chess Podcast) and 17-year old Jamiu Ninilowo from Nigeria. The first game was drawn and then Genevieve and Ludvig won the armageddon game with only 0,3 seconds margin. The commentators GM Pontus Carlsson and GM Maurice Ashley were very excited in the studio and really enjoyed the games.

It was also fun to see the founder of Chess in Slums Tunde Onakoya in action, here together with Fantalis Nduta from Kenya against Arvin Rasti and Yvonne Mwashe.

The short movie Building Minds with Chess won Programers award at Diversity in Cannes short film category. The short movie is about Grandmaster Pontus Carlsson and the benefits of chess as an excellent tool for shaping the brain of young people. Our movie directed by Dr Ken Mask and Marshall Woodworth was higly praised by the audience and our screening got a standing ovation. The oscar winner Fisher Stevens was one of the well known actors in the audience. As he was there to watch our movie and to get a game against Grandmaster Pontus Carlsson. The game ended in a draw!

Isaiah Otieno and Bernice Wambui both won the Kenyan Championships. Bernice scored 8 out of 8 and claimed the Kenyan under 18 Women title. A fantastic achievment considering her young age (She is only 12!) Isaiah won the open category with 7,5 out of 8. We are really proud over both of them since they have managed to overcome alot of obstacles in their lives. Well done champs and we will see you both at the online Chess 2 Change tournament on June 17th with GM Maurice Ashley as commentator.

Do not miss it!

Team SEB with Håkan Frisén and Pratyush Tripathi won Business Meets Chess & Kids in Stockholm that took place on April 26th. 24 teams met up at the Headquarter of Cederquist Lawfirm for a fun afternoon with many giving meetings. SEB defeated their bank collegues Swedbank in an exciting final that after a fighting draw in the first game, had to be decided in an armageddon game, where Team Swedbank with Solomia Truskavetska and Erik Jacobson had the white pieces and 5 minutes on the clock versus 4 minutes for Team SEB. It was a really funny event and a big thank you to all participants, Cederquist Lawfirm and to all the sponsors. See you next time!

On International Women’s Day we would like to praise all girls, their mums and sisters that are engaged in our programs. We are happy to keep supporting you. Keep working hard and do not forget our next session in the Cross Culture Girls program. It will be on March 18 at 10am -11.30am US Eastern Time. There will be a Grandmaster lecture on the french plus a themed tournament on the french where all games will start with the moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5. Please make sure to check out some of the links to the instructive videos about the French before the session. You can find them in the chess.com club.

Enjoy your day young queens!

The top rated Kenyan is now 17-year old Robert Mcligeyo from our Chess 2 Change program. Robert has developed alot over the last two years and he recently managed to win the Kenyan Qualifiers with an impressive score of 8,5 out of 10, beating all the adults. He was recently interviewed by The Daily Nation. In the interview he stressed how much the support by GM Pontus Carlsson and the books and tips that he got from us have meant to him and his development. We are very proud of Robert and happy to keep suporting him towards his big dream to become a Grandmaster.
https://nation.africa/kenya/sports/other-sports/robert-mcligeyo-chess-whiz-kid-aiming-to-be-grand-master-4137816

We also would like to remind the Kenyan bank KCB Group that they have promised to sponsor Robert. Its high time to honor that promise.

Recently we were featured in the docuseries Through the Mirror of Chess: A Cultural Exploration by Howard and Irena Burton that was just released. The 4-part docuseries is now available for rent/purchase on the new Ideas Roadshow app and on Vimeo On Demand (VOD). Each part covers a topic like Contemporary impact, The first millenium, Uniqueness, Art, science, sport.
Business Meets Chess & Kids are featured in part 4 (Contemporary impact).

Link to the Films
Here is a link to the the films page where you can find a brief synopsis of each episode, links to the ideas Roadshow app and VOD and the accompanying book of Chessays:
https://ideasroadshow.com/chess/

Enjoy the films!

16-year old Saad Abobaker who is engaged in our extreme makeover program just earned his first IM-norm in Kragero Resort Chess International in Norway. On his way to the norm Saad managed to beat his first 2 Grandmasters in Kjetil Lie and Valentin Dragnev. A very impressive performance by Saad who ended up as shared 3rd just half a point after the winner the International Master John Paul Wallace from Australia.

Here you can see Saads last round win against GM Dragnev

https://lichess.org/broadcast/krager-resort-chess-2023/round-9/DYyzoUGN

Here you can see the results

http://turneringsservice.sjakklubb.no/standings.aspx?TID=KrageroResortChessInternationa2023-KrageroSjakklubbUngdom

Text: Triza Achieng (Isaiahs sister)

Isaiah Otieno Oluoch is a chess player from a very humble background. He started playing chess as a fun game not knowing that it will elevate him to greater heights and to meet successful people such as Mr. Githinji Hinga and GM Pontus Carlson. Thanks to Pontus Carlson, a GM from Sweden, Isaiah has managed to achieve a lot of things among them flying for the first in a plane to the Mombasa Open Chess Tournament. He managed to scoop three points out of the possible six. 

ISAIAH’S EXPERIENCE IN MOMBASA

Isaiah and I were dropped by Mr. Githinji Hinga at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where he had already booked to and from flights for them courtesy of GM Pontus Carlson. It was a really great experience for us since it was our first flight.

We arrived at the Mombasa Continental Hotel at around 11:00 pm. Isaiah did some chess training and we ate some coastal dishes such as Biryani for dinner. Then we went to sleep to wait for the D-day which was the following day.

On the first day of the tournament, Isaiah faced his longtime coach Panchol Madol in his first round where Panchol won. Nonetheless Isaiah had a positive attitude towards it and discovered his weakness.

On the second round Isaiah won with a landslide against one Daniel Kinyanjui with only thirteen moves. Thus we had a lot of time to spare why we went to the beach for a swim.

On the third round which was on the second day, Isaiah lost the game to Joseph Maigua who is a very strong player. Nonetheless, Isaiah did not let the lose get to him. He continued on strong to the next game against Ethan where he managed to get a point.

On the last day Isaiah played against Ronald Bolo who is a force to reckon with. Isaiah lost to him but not without a fight. Isaiah went on to win the next game making it his third point.

We had to rush to the airport to catch our flight back home. We hope to fly again since “Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return.”

Thank you GM Pontus and Githinji.

Our last event was held at Stockholms Central Train Station where 20 teams consisting of a business profile and a youth from an innercity community played each other in a tandem chess tournament. There was many laughs and interesting meetings.

Swedens nr1 Grandmaster Nils Grandelius challenged some of the participants and visitors in a simul where he showed his class by winning all games in great style.

A big thank you to all participants, staff and sponsors who made this successful event possible.

Business Meets Chess & Kids organized an event at the shopping mall Skaggetorp Centrum that is located in the Inner city Community Skaggetorp. It was a great event that created alot of meetings between mentors and methees plus gave alot of local people and visitors the chance to try and to learn more about chess.

A big thank you to Skaggetorp and all participants, staff and sponsors who made this possible. See you in 2023!

One of our youngsters Saad Elmi who is in the extreme makeover program just became FIDE Master. He has managed to to raise his rating from 1800 to 2300 in about a year. An amazing development and a good evidence of what talented, smart kids can do if they just get a chance. We congratulate Saad on his achievments and are happy and proud to keep on supporting him toward further titles and success in his life and chess career. A big thank you also to FERD, Gisle Bjugn and Saads Norwegian chess club Bærum Schakselskap who all have supported Saad in the best possible way.

Saads life have changed drastically, he has been going from beeing a broke kid in an innercity community to a FIDE Master, Norwegian international and Norwegian Champion in his age, plus that he has improved his grades so that he got into The Norwegian School of Elite Sports where he has a full scholarship. Excellent development for Saad and his family and more is to come. To quote the FERD owner and billionaire Johan H Andreasen “Saad rules! and we in FERD are happy to support him on his journey. You’ve seen nothing yet!”

Business Meets Chess & Kids was featured in the last number of the prestigeous magazine New in Chess. It is a chess magazine that appears eight times a year with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam as chief editor. New in Chess began publication in 1984 and contains notes by top players and chess prodigies about their own games. Featured in the photospread is Meijun from Geely and Sara that played together at our event in Gothenburg in Sweden. Meijun has only been playing chess for 5 months and she got interested in chess after atending a Business Meets Chess & Kids event in spring. We are constantly looking for more people that would like to participate. So if you feel that you would like to attend an event, or to support then do not hesitate to contact us at info@businessmeetschessandkids.com

https://www.newinchess.com/magazine

The final was very exciting and after a tense endgame and time scramble Team BI with Lucas Ranaldi and 10-year old Abdishakur Elmi clinched the title.

Abdishakur has developed his game alot the last year and is now rated around 2400 on chess.com.

Otherwise it was a great event at Økern Portal in Oslo

During the last weeks GM Pontus Carlsson was finally able to visit some of the African youths enrolled in our programs again after the pandemic. He first went to Kenya and is currently in Namibia. GM Pontus got to meet with many of the girls from the Cross Culture Girls program aswell as the kids engaged in Chess2Change and the families in the extreme makeover program. GM Pontus told us that he was very happy to meet all the kids, their families and the program coordinators in person.

He also travelled with 70kg of carefully selected Chessbooks that he was able to hand out to the kids enrolled in the Chess2Change program. Now the kids will be able to work on their game with their new books.

The next Business Meets Chess & Kids event on October 5 will be held in Gothenburg at Uni3 by Geelys Headquarter on Pumpgatan 1. It will be a social event (2.30pm – 6pm Swedish Time) with mingle, food and tandem chess. Contact us if you would like to join.

WELCOME!

Last week we gathered our partners and participants from the Norwegian business community for a fun social evening with chess and networking at FERDs Headquarter in Oslo. On the program apart from socializing was a nice dinner, a tough quiz made by Askild Bryn and a tandem chess tournament where the players were alterning the moves.

We are looking forward to se everyone again at Business Meets Chess & Kids Oslo that will be arranged on November 4 at Økern Portal. Dont miss it!

Our Norwegian talent Saad Elmi just won the Nordic Youth Championships in the u17 category. Saad scored 4,5 points out of 6 with 3 wins and 3 draws. Next challenge for Saad is the World Youth Championships in Mamaia, Romania. We hope for more success there. Well done Saad.

https://chess-results.com/tnr668543.aspx?lan=6&art=1&rd=6&fedb=NOR&turdet=YES&flag=30

As a part of the project Chess for inclusion Norways nr 2 Grandmaster Aryan Tari came to the shopping mall Stovner Senter in Oslo and took on 60 players in a simultaneous exhibition. Aryan showed his high level and won all games apart from one that he lost on time against the former Norwegian international WFM Sylvia Johnsen.

Aryan also challenged the visitors in handicap blitz where he had as little as 45 seconds on the clock against 5 minutes for the challengers.

Many people tried their luck but Aryan were ruthless and just kept on winning.

Even the commentator and TV expert Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Hammer tried to help out by motivating the challengers and changing the rules so that Aryan had to play two players at the same time with only 1 minute on the clock.

And that eventually led to a defeat when 12 year old Fredrik managed to win a game and himself a voucher at Stovner Senter. Well done Fredrik!

Some media houses attended the event to write about it and do interviews. One reporter even decided to take a seat and challenge Aryan to a game.

Apart from the exhibition by Aryan Tari there was also a tournament held at the Deichman Library that attracted participants of all ages and from very different backgrounds. All participants won a nice meal at the local restaurant Alibaba.

A great day and we could not have done such a great job without our young staff that all did an amazing job. And by the way this is their first job! A big thank you to our partners the Norwegian Chess Federation, Vestli Chess Club, Stovner Senter and Deichman Stovner.

Together with The Norwegian Chess Federation we are running a project in Oslo called chess for inclusion where we create a series of social and inclusive chess events in the innercity communities.

An important part of the project is that some of the teenagers engaged in our program gets the chance to get a job.

• 

Saad have been doing two simul exhibitions at the Deichman Library in Stovner and at the shopping Mall Stovner Senter, one was a tandem simul together with the TV presenter Maud Rødsmoen who also plays in the Norwegian National Team.

16-year old Saad Abobaker Elmi followed up the successful Norwegian Championships by a strong performance in Czech Open held in Pardubice, Czech Republic. Saad scored 5 out of 9 and earned 112! rating points after beating one International Master and one FIDE Master. Well done Saad! https://chess-results.com/tnr633805.aspx?lan=1&art=9&fed=NOR&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=131

Join us on July 19th for a charity stream in support of African chess friends! FM James Canty will host the event and play against Top GM Grandelius!

16 year old Kenyan International Robert Mcligeyo will challenge FM Canty for a live game on the stream. We will also have a donation game with Kenyan U12 Champion Bernice Wambui!

Feel free to donate here or on the stream!

Saad participated in the Norwegian Junior Championship! He topped the Blitz category and finished second in the classical format!

Saad is getting ready to play Czech Open and after that he will start his first semester at the Norweigan School of Elite Sports. He has started his preparations for the World Youth Championships in Romania.

Chess 2 Change – The most life changing tournament ever – was organized on 12th June and streamed via twitch. The event was a huge success with interesting games and special guest appearance by world champion Magnus Carlsen! Anna Rudolf and Maurice Ashley commented on the games.

Feel free to contribute to the cause via a donation here.

Team Chess 2 Change featuring Arvin Rasti & Robert Mcligejo won the tournament with an unbeaten score of 6.5/7.

12 teams competed for the title in 7 rounds! Here are the participants!

The ongoing Chess 2 Change Campaign will help African kids in their school education, internet access, laptops, chess equipment, chess training, books, travel expenses and so on.

Join us in driving change through the game of chess. Donate here.

Global Business People will team up with African kids! World Champion MagnusCarlsen will guest the stream by Anna Rudolf & Maurice Ashley.

Watch the stream: http://twitch.tv/Chess2Change today(12th June 2022) at 12 Noon US Eastern time!

If you want to support the children feel free to donate on the stream or at https://businessmeetschessandkids.com

The World Champion Magnus Carlsen will be a guest in the studio of the Chess 2 Change stream on June 12th. He will join the chess streamer and International Master Anna Rudolf and Grandmaster Maurice Ashley.

Spots left!

There is currently two spots left to the Chess 2 Change tournament held on June 12th, for adults who would like to participate. Contact us if you would like to play.

Next ML with Marek Religa and Oscar Johansson won Business Meets Chess & Kids in Stockholm held at Cederquist Law Firm. They won an exciting final against SPP. Thanks to all the participants and sponsors for a great afternoon.

On May 31st, we will host a tandem chess tournament. Business Meets Chess & Kids Stockholm will be held at 3pm Swedish time until 6pm at the Headquarter of Cederquist Law Firm.

Real estate billionaire Ilija Batljan will be joining us as a participant for the event!

On June 12th we will organize Chess 2 Change and we are very happy to announce that Grandmaster Maurice Ashley will be one of the commentators. Chess 2 Change is an online Hand & Brain tournament where people from the whole world team up with African talents from poor backgrounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5vnpOp0U_g

We still have some places left for adults that wants to join, read more here and reach out to us if you want to join.

Thunderful Group with 11-year old Kinan and CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson won in Gothenburg.

The tournament was conducted in Nordstan – In the heart of Gothenburg.

It was a fun tournament with multiple exciting matches!

Ariana and Ricardo represented Club Miraflores to win an exciting final against Team Los Naranjos Golf Club at Business Meets Chess and Kids Marbella!

It was fun to have the former Real Madrid star Esteban Granero as a participant in the tournament

On Friday April 29th we will host a tandem chess tournament with the goal to facilitate integration at the shopping mall Nordstan, in Gothenburg, Sweden. The concept is that each child from an inner-city community gets paired up with a business executive or a celebrity to play tandem chess (alternating the moves) in a tournament.

Event description

Business Meets Chess & Kids in Gothenburg is an event to facilitate integration and work against segregation in society by using chess as a bridging tool. Chess can be played by everyone regardless of background or socioeconomic status, as the event highlights.

The main event is a tandem chess tournament where a business executive is paired with a child from the inner city communities in a team where they alternate moves (without discussion). The event is being held publicly at the Shopping mall Nordstan. This time the participants are Business Executives from companies like Geely, Volvo Cars, Uni3 by Geely, Thunderful Group, Länsförsäkringar, Finwire, SPP, SBP Nordic, and Business Region Gothenburg. The artist Promoe will also participate.

Pre-Event

There will also be a pre-event between 2 and 3PM Central European Standard time (CEST),  where the Swedish International Arvin Rasti, will challenge the audience in blitz games. Arvin Rasti will get 90 sec for the whole game, and the challenger gets 5 minutes. No increments.

Due to Illness we have decided to move the Chess 2 Change tournament to June 12th. You can read more about it here.

Feel free to reach out to us if you are interested in participating or would like to support our fundraiser.

In the recently conducted, Kenyan National Youth Chess Championships, Bernice Wambui Gikandi won against the boys to end up with a perfect score of 8/8!

Bernice was also a part of the team that drew against Judit Polgar. She will also be participating in the Chess 2 Change event on April 23rd 2022!

She is looking for business individuals to help her continue her winning streak! Join us today!

About a decade ago, Brooklyn Castle was released It tells the stories of five members of the chess team at a below-the-poverty-line inner city junior high school that has won more national championships than any other in the country. Rochelle Ballantyne, then 17, starred in the film.

Rochelle will be joining us for the Cross Culture Session on On April 1st at Noon ET/7 PM Kenya time . She will inspire the girls with a few career highlights and talk about her goals and how she overcame adversity. 

Saad Abobaker helped SEB Bank contribute $4500 to UNICEF when he played against 10 year old Magnus Carlsen on the Play Magnus app!

The money will be used by UNICEF to aid their work in Ukraine.

The game was a part of The Play Magnus Charity Challenge, a fundraiser for UNICEF, of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Charity Cup 2022.

On 20th March, participants of Cross Culture Girls sessions challenged GM Judit Polgar. Playing Black, the girls ended up with a draw against Judit!

https://twitter.com/MeetsKids/status/1506280443276328968

WFM Alessia Santeramo and WGM Jennifer Shahade streamed the session on twitch.

The hosts did a fantastic job! The girls had a lot of fun despite the fact that it was very late in Africa when the game ended!

The chess community is blessed to have so many wonderful women chess players. A salute to them for their never ending inspiration. We are back with yet another Cross Culture Girls event!

The session will be conducted on March 20th 2022 from 9 AM US Eastern Time. Apart from a tournament, there will also be a consultation game against the legendary GM Judit Polgar. The games will be streamed on Alessia Santeramo’s twitch channel.

The event will be hosted by WGM Jennifer Shahade! Do not forget to check out her new book Chess Queens!

Robert Mcligeyo will be joining the Kenyan team in Russia for the World Chess Olympiad thanks to his brilliant performance in the Qualifiers.

Robert will also be part of Chess 2 Change. Business peeps, look out for him! You will be lucky to have him on your team 😉

Isaiah Otieno finished on top after 6 rounds at the Nairobi Regional Junior Chess Championship 2022

Isaiah scored 5/6 with a rating performance of 1273. With his top performance, Isaiah has also qualified for the National championship!

Read more about Isaiah here. We wish Isaiah the best for his future tournaments!

The girls are ready! We will have a Cross Culture Girls session on 12th February at 11am US Eastern time. Having finished the previous session which included confidence training by Benjamin Portheault, it’s time for some review!

Schedule

1. Follow up on the homework from Benjamin’s Confidence training.

2. A Najdorf session by WGM Jennifer Shahade & GM Pontus Carlsson.

3. A themed Najdorf tournament so they can test what they have learnt.

Happy new year! It is time for the first Cross Culture Girls session of the year. On 15th January 2021, we will have a training session by Benjamin Portheault who is a renowned Performance coach for mental athletes.

In the session, we will discuss key ideas in the Najdorf followed by a themed tournament with Najdorf Sicilian.

Here is the schedule-

45 min – Benjamin Portheault (confidence training + non chess preparation)

10 min – Najdorf review where we go over the moves and some typical key ideas in the Najdorf.

50 min – Themed Tournament Najdorf Sicilian

• 4 Rounds
• Time control: 4 min +2 sec/move

We are proud to share that chess players from our Cross Culture Girls program have achieved remarkable results at the Africa Schools Individual Chess Championship

In the Under-11 category, Elizabeth Cassidy from Kenya topped the leader board after 9 rounds. She remained unbeaten and gained a massive 44.5 Elo points

Fantalis Lucy Nduta from Kenya scored 5,5/9 and finished 5th in the Under-11 category

Lakshita Dutt from Malawi triumphed in the U-13 section with a sole lead of of 8/9 and Yvonne Mwashe from Kenya finished 6th with 4.5 points

In the Under-15 category, Hannah Mawejje finished 12th with a score of 4/9. With a high gain of 68,4 Elo points, Ingado Mercy won the U-17 category. She scored 7.5/9 in the tournament!

We congratulate all the winners and wish them luck!

On December 18th, Cross Culture Girls session was organized with WGM Jennifer Shahde and WGM Nadya Ortiz. It was a fun filled session as we celebrated GM Pontus Carlsson’s birthday with a special themed tournament in the Sicilian Dragon.

Apart from the chess.com club tournament, one could witness a lot of cultural exchanges throughout the session. Many of us managed to learn chess pieces in Spanish as well!

We leave you with a mate in two puzzle from one of the games of the tournament

At 12 noon US Eastern time, we will have a session. We are very much excited as it is GM Pontus Carlsson’s birthday! WGM Jennifer Shahade and WGM nadya Ortiz will join us for fun filled discussions!

Along with mix of cultures and chess experiences, we will also have a chess tournament for all our girls. This is going to be an interesting session!

On November 19th, Business Meets Chess & Kids was organized at Ullevål Soccer Stadium. Business executives from various companies participated and supported the event by playing tandem chess together with kids from Oslo´s inner-city communities.

Team Dacon with Ariza Hina & Ingrid Dahl won the tournament after beating Ferd 1 with Morten Borge & Saad Abobaker in the exciting final.

Ferd along with CEO Morten Borge will sponsor Saad in his endeavor to become a Grandmaster. The sponsorship will preliminary be for a  minimum duration of 3 years and it will cover training, tournament expenses as well as his school fees at Norwegian School of Elite Sports! This is a perfect illustration of how meetings across the chessboard can be life changing!

On Monday November 29th, we will host a charity stream in favour for our African kids that need school fees, food, clothes and chess equipment.
The stream will be hosted by the chess influencer and streamer Alessia Santeramo and can be seen on here twitch channel here

We will have the following guests on the stream

Former World Champion Veselin Topalov
7 folded Russian Champion GM Peter Svidler
Swedens nr1 GM Nils Grandelius
WGM and former US Champion Jennifer Shahade
GM Pontus Carlsson
GM Noel Studer
Isaiah Otieno
CM Kennedy Shane
Elizabeth Cassidy
Yvonne Mwashe
Bernice Wambui
Saad Abobaker
Mohammed Ali Jefarli

Thanks to ChessKid.com, winner of each match will be able to present 50 GOLD memberships for 3 months to a school or a chess club of their choice!

Duration of the stream: The stream will go on from 10am to 6.30pm CET

Schedule                       CET – Central European Time

10.00 – 11.00    Alessia                    

11.00 – 12.00    Alessia

12.00 – 12.30   GM Topalov vs CM Kennedy Shane odds match  

12.40 – 13.40   GM Topalov vs GM Grandelius blitz match

14.00 – 15.00   GM Svidler vs  Bernice Wambui odds match 

15.00 – 16.00    Alessia

16.00 – 17.00    Hand & Brain match  WGM Shahade & Elizabeth Cassidy vs WFM Alessia Santeramo & Yvonne Mwashe

17.00 – 18.30    Business match + round off

On November 26th at 11am US Eastern Time we will do a Champions session featuring The US Champion Carissa Yip and the Kenyan Women Champion Joyce Nyaruai. They will both go through some of their games from their last successful tournament and speak about how they managed they managed to win the decisive games.

DO NOT MISS IT!

On November 19th Business Meets Chess & Kids will be organized at Ullevål Soccer Stadium. Business Executives and Norwegian celebrities will then play tandem chess together with young talents from Oslos innercity communities.

The Schedule (CEST)
2pm – 3pm Challenge Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Hammer in blitz
3pm – 6pm Tandem Chess Tournament where each youth is beiing paired with a business executive or celebrity.

Among the participants are the CEO of FERD Morten Borge, Kenneth Gvein the CEO of Knowit Experience, Philipp Engedahl Managing Director for Flytoget, Petter Vold from PwC and the TV personalities Erle Marki Hansen and Sverre Krogh. Another interesting participant is the World Champion Magnus Carlsens company Play Magnus Group.

The games will be broadcasted, may the best team win!

Team SPP 2 with the Swedish u11 Champion Matija Sakic and Alexander Karlsson won the exciting final against TIN Fonder with Erik Sprinchorn and Solomia Trustaevska.

A big thank you to Cederquist Law Firm for hosting us. It was a great afternoon with alot of smiles and great meetings.

On Wednesday November 10th, 20 business executives from Stockholm, Sweden will gather at the headquarter of Cederquist Law Firm to participate in a tandem chess tournament together with kids from Stockholms Innercity communities.

The schedule

15.00 – 18.00 The tandem chess tournament

Who is playing

Among the participants are the Academic Work owner Jeremias Andersson, The owners of Digital Tolk Leyla Sarac & Virpal Singh, CEO of Meetly Daniel Tekle, SPPs CEO Staffan Hansén, the broker Erik Sprinchorn from TIN Fonder, the serial entrepreneur Jarno Vanhatapio from NA-KD and the partner of Cederquist Law Firm Erik Wernberg.

May the best team win!

Team Uni3 by Geely won Business Meets Chess & Kids in Gothenburg. It was a great afternoon with alot laughs and meetings across borders. We want to thank all sponsors and an extra thank you to Nordstan, Uni3 by Geely and Geely.

• 

On Friday October 15th business executives from Gothenburg, Sweden will gather in the large Shopping mall Nordstan to participate in a tandem chess tournament together with kids from the innercity community Angered. The goal with the tournament is to foster togetherness.

The schedule

14.00 – 15.00 – The Swedish International Arvin Rasti Challenge the audience in blitz

15.00 – 18.00 The tandem chess tournament

Who is playing

Among the participants are business executives from companies like Geely, Volvo Cars, Uni3 by Geely, Stena Metall Group, ForestX, Gomo Group and SPP. Other prominent participants is the artist Promoe and the former member of parliament Johan Lönnroth.

May the best team win!

Our Kenyan chess talent Isaiah Otieno that comes from a very poor background has shown some nice progress lately. At the Kitengela Chess Championships he managed to beat his coach the Nairobi Champion and former Kenyan International Githinji Hinga in the last round to finish 6th with 4,5 out of 6.

Just before that he also won the junior section at the Nairobi Chess Championships even thou he was among the younger participants.

He defeated the Kenyan Women Champion Candidate Master Lucy Wanjiru from our Cross Culture Girls program (Who is also a successful hiphop artist under the name The Lone Wolf) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5oO5mO6vKunOY36XujFhBA in their 4 game match with the score 3-1.

Isaiah ended his sucessful spell by earning some nice ratingpoints at the Mombasa Open where he was well dressed!

He was getting strong support from his sister Marylyn who closed her small ice cream shop for a day to come along and support her brother.

It was the first time Isaiah stayed in a hotel but surerly not the last time!

A well deserved swim after another successful tournament.

Next session will be on October 1st at 12.00 noon US Eastern Time.

In the session we will go over some recent games played by our girls in recent tournaments like the African Youth Championships where we had many girls from our program that participated. Many did well and got important experience of international chess. Well done girls and see you on October 1st.

On August 28th we were very happy to welcome 30 new colombian girls to our program. The session had a focus on a cultural exchange and was lead by the three Grandmasters, Jennifer Shahade, Nadya Ortiz and Pontus Carlsson who is born in Colombia.

Girls from Africa, Colombia and the United States gathered online for about 2 hours to practice their Spanish and English, take a quiz with questions about Colombia, Uganda, Botswana, Kenya and United States, to play a tournament and to interact and share life experiences and food from their country. It really was an excellent session.

• 

• 

Business Meets Chess & Kids Online gathered a bunch of business executives from the Swedish Trade and Industry that played tandem chess together with youths from different Swedish innercity communities like Rinkeby, Skäggetorp, Tensta, Botkyrka and Zlatan Ibrahimovic Rosengård to mention a few. It was a great digital event that created alot of digital meetings, tense games and laughs.

Swedens nr 1 Grandmaster Nils Grandelius played a nice online simul before the main event against 10 brave challengers. One of his challengers was the astronaut Christer Fuglesang.

The real estate billionaire Greg Dingizian was one of the business executives that had a fun afternoon online. Greg also grew up in the innercity community Rosengård.

Overall it was a great event and we would like to thank all participants and sponsors. Also a big thank you to the excellent team of arbiters led by the main arbiter Shohreh Bayat who took great care of the participants throughout the whole event.

In July we will do a themed Kings Indian tournament plus some tournaments and sessions. Please check the chessclub for info on the tournaments. We are very happy to welcome our new Nigerian girls! from the Chess in Slums initiative.

Schedule July

1) July 9th at 12 noon US Easter Time – Kings Indian Tournament with Women Grandmaster Katerina Nemcova

2) July 30th at 10am US Eastern Time – Nigeria welcome + Tournament and Session

In June we will have the honor to have the strongest female player on the planet Grandmaster Judit Polgar as a guest. On June 3rd at 3.30 pm US Eastern time, Judit will answer your questions and WGM Jennifer Shahade will show some nice games and tactics from Judits long and impressive career. Do not miss it!

Schedule June

1) June 3 at 3.30 pm US Eastern Time – Q&A with Judit Polgar!

2) June 4 at 12 noon US Eastern Time – Tournament & Session

3) June 18 at 12 noon US Eastern Time – Kings Indian lecture by Women Grandmaster Katerina Nemcova

4) July 9th at 12 noon US Easter Time – Kings Indian Tournament

Also do not forget to check the club for this months casual tournaments.

Next class in the Cross Culture Girls program will be on Friday, May 14th at 12 noon US Eastern Time.

Grandmasters will teach you how to train chess!

Do not miss it!

  

On April 23rd, Business Executives from the Swedish Trade & Industry will pair with kids from the Swedish inner-city communities for a Tandem Chess Tournament online. Among the participants are companies like Spotify, Merck and Redeye. The pre-event will see Grandmaster Nils Grandelius take on 10 players in an online simul. One of his challengers are the first Swede in space, the astronaut Christer Fuglesang.

Schedule

1pm – 2pm – Grandmaster Nils Grandelius will play against 10 challengers.

2pm – 6pm – The Tandem Chess Tournament

All times are CEST (Central European Standard Time). If you would like to be one of the lucky players that gets the chance to challenge GM Grandelius then contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com

Next session will be on April 23rd at 12.00 noon US Eastern Time. Do not miss it since it will be a very instructive class with a tournament and feedback on your games by WGM Jennifer Shahade and WIM Sabrina Chevannes.

Tournaments April

April will be a tournament month so there will be various online tournaments. Information about them will be published in the chess club at chess.com.

• 

Next two sessions will be:
1) March 13th at 11 am US Eastern Time. When we will welcome the Swedish, legendary Grandmaster and two folded European Champion, Pia Cramling that will share her knowledge with all of you in a Masterclass. There will also be a tournament.

2) March 19th at 12.00 noon US Eastern Time. We will be joined by the “Queen of Qatwe” Phiona Mutesi that will talk about her life and chess career. If you have not yet seen the Walt Disney Movie Queen of Qatwe you should! since it is really good.

Homework

We remind all girls about the homework to March 19th

1. To try to increase your playing rating on chess.com with 100 points.

2. To try to increase your puzzle rating on chess.com with 200 points.

3. To play against a minimum of 5 other members of the Cross Culture Girls program.

Next two sessions will be:
1) February 19th at 12.00 noon US Eastern Time

2) February 20th at 11 am US Eastern Time (A thematic tournament in the Sicilian opening)

Homework

We remind all girls about the homework to February 19th

1. To try to increase your playing rating on chess.com with 100 points.

2. To try to increase your puzzle rating on chess.com with 200 points.

3. To play against a minimum of 5 other members of the Cross Culture Girls program.

4. To train on the sicilian opening since we will do a thematic tournament on February 20. All games in that tournament will start with the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3.

Keep on training!

• 

We are happy to announce that we have now expanded our program so that it does not only engage girls from The US and Kenya no, now also all chess playing girls from Uganda, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, Malawi and Tanzania can join our Cross Culture Girls program 😃

What is our Cross Culture Girls Program

It is a online program that we run in partnership with Lighthouse Chess Club and US Chess Women. The program offers free chess training lead by female top players and cross cultural sessions where the girls interact and learn from each other.

Goals with the program

• To through the help of chess create a cultural exchange between the girls.
• A mutually beneficial exchange that will lead to female empowerment, inspiration, improved chess skills, new experiences, and new friends.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1334503666443751427

What is needed to join

The girls need to have an internet connection plus a device that allows them to connect to be able to follow the classes/ play the tournaments.

For the girls that have attended our sessions and tournaments plus joined our chess club at chess.com there have been some nice rewards not just in terms of alot of fun, increased skills (many have increased their online ratings with more then 200 points) and new friends but also new physical chess boards and Diamond memberships at Chess.com

How to join

For questions or to sign up for the program please contact Mrs. Judith Kiragu +254 721485493 judy.kiragu@fortemcltd.com

Today, December 1 is Giving Tuesday, a day that encourages people to do good and help other people in the world to get through difficulties. If you would like to help our Kenyan kids from the Mukuru Kwa Njenga Slums that has been badly affected by the virus situation and lockdown in their country and they need clothes, food and chess equipments so they can stay healthy and keep their minds sharp in these challenging times, then please send your donation through our website at paypal.me/pools/c/89ee7XWmWS

Asante Sana!

On November 6, Norwegian business leaders will meet with children from the inner city communities for a tandem chess tournament. Magnus Carlsen, the World Champion and founder of Play Magnus Group will be one of the participants together with the CEO of Ferd, Morten Borge. They are joined by business leaders from companies like Carnegie, Verdane Capital, Knowit, 4C and Alfred Berg.

The tournament will start at 3pm Central European Time, and will be covered by Chess 24, Do not miss it!

In partnership with Lighthouse Chess Club and US Chess Women we are very happy to present our new US – Kenya cross culture girls program.

The program that runs online, offers free chess training lead by female top players and cross cultural sessions where Kenyan and American girls interact and learn from each other.

Goals with the program

• To through the help of chess create a cultural exchange between Kenyan and American girls.
• A mutually beneficial exchange that will lead to female empowerment, inspiration, improved chess skills, new experiences, and new friends.

For questions or to sign up for the program please contact Mrs. Judith Kiragu +254 721485493 judy.kiragu@fortemcltd.com

This is the 15-year old kenyan talent Isaiah Otieno. Isaiah is from the Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum that is an area with extreme poverty. Through his intellect and hard work he has managed to become a top junior in chess, as well as one of the best students in the country. In fact he is number 2 in his region, only beaten by his brother! Abdul Malik. Thus we are delighted to help Isaiah and his family to a better life, by allocating them in a real, furnished flat where they are comfortable and can nurture their talent. And of course Isaiah will get a laptop with chessbase installed plus a coach so he can improve. Mukuru is full of smart talents that needs a stable environment and acceptable living conditions, help us to help them!

BIO: Isaiah Otieno Oluoch
DOB: 06 June 2005
Now 15 years

Born in Mukuru Kwa Njenga Slum, in the outskirts of Nairobi. Until recently, on his 15th birthday, he and his family were moved to a 2 bedroom flat in Tena Estate, with much better amenities as we wait for the desired house, a 3 Bedroom Bungalow at Kariobangi South. In the words of his father, ‘It is a million times better’, than the single room the family shared at the slum, with one bathroom for the plot (several households). 

Family: Total 8, 4 boys and 2 girls.

Father : Peter Oluoch Aguk – 38yrs – Casual Laboror, currently unemployed
Mother – Ruth Achieng Oluoch – 33 years, Sells vegetables in Mukuru
Marylyn Hiky – 19yrs, just cleared high school, helps mother at the vegetable stand
Emmanuel Oduor – 18yrs Currently in form 3, Swaminarayan High School, Moved from Langata High School due to fee challenges.
Triza Achieng – 17 years Currently in form 3 Swaminarayan High School, also moved from Moi Girls Vokoli Girls High School due to School fee constraints.
Isiah – 15yrs – Mangu High School, form 1 – This is among the best KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education Exam)  408marks out of 500. Top in his school and among the best in the country.
Abdul Malik  – 15yrs – Scored 418 Marks in KCPE 2019, one of the best students in the country, was drafted to a top school Kapsabet High School – National School. Father intends to relocate him to another school due to school fees challenges. Nehemiah Williams – 2 Months baby

Chess
– Isaiah learnt chess in 2015 at the age of 9, through Sports Outreach Ministry (SOM) which started a chess club at Carson Academy, formally Nairobi Slum Project school (Redroof). SOM provided meals for the kids aged 5-14 years and introduced Chess as one of the programs. Chess worked well as playgrounds are non-existent in the slum. He was very hardworking and was among the best few that represented the club in tournaments.

Unlike his peers from the affluent part of town, he has achieved well despite several challenges including: 
– Never owned a chess board (until he met us!)
– Started playing on chess.com in 2020, thanks to his mother’s phone
– Used to have beginner book
– Not read any advanced books
– No direct coaching, at Redroof Erick Oyugi  and Josphat Owila, taught the 80+ club how to play

Awards:
– Winka Academy 2018 Best Boy U14
– Brookhurst U14 winner
– Nairobi Southlands u14 Winnner
– Mukuru Junior Chess Championships winner u12 and u14 Boys- He has been top 3 in over a dozen other events.

National:
– Vihiga 2018 Under14 Category – Joint 2nd
– Nyeri 2018 U14 – Joint 2nd

Isaiahs big goal is to become a Grandmaster and just like he predicted when he was 10, chess will transform his life!

https://youtu.be/BZ52RQt6ssc

We are very proud to announce that our short movie Building Minds with Chess created by Ken Mask and Marshall Woodworth featuring Grandmaster Pontus Carlsson was selected for the best short movie in New Orleans Film Festival.

BUILDING MINDS WITH CHESS USA | 2020 | 10 MIN DIR: KEN MASK
Explores the possibilities of engaging children and young teenagers through exercising certain parts of their brain through the game of chess.  
Watch the trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6JxSHuo5sc

You can support Business Meets Chess & Kids by purchasing the full movie through this link: PURCHASE FILM

It was a fun afternoon at Morphys Chess & Culture Center, that created alot of interesting meetings, brought down many laughs and created many new friendship relations. Thanks to Leila D’aquin and Chess Nola for hosting us, Kendric Perkins and Strategic Thoughts for running the tournament, David and Maureen Grimaud for the pictures and Ken Mask for all his efforts, and a big thank you to all participants for joining us and making the event so successful. Chess is fun!

On May 18th between 2 and 4.30 PM we will organize a tandem chess tournament at the Morphy Chess & Culture Center 4714B Earhart Blvd. The tandem chess tournament will see business leaders like Pres Kabacoff, MD Greg Ward, Mark P. Glago and Leila A. D’Aquin play tandem chess together with kids from all areas of New Orleans. Join us today! To sign up please contact Ken Mask (504)908-0337

Grandmaster Pontus Carlsson will be in New Orleans between the 14th and 19th of October to launch the Business Meets Chess & Kids program with some exciting events!

See the schedule here:

  INTERNATIONAL CHESS GRANDMASTER PONTUS CARLSSON VISITS NEW ORLEANS TO UNVEIL NEW PROGRAM TO HELP KIDS NEW ORLEANS, La., Oct. 13 – GM Pontus Carlsson is embarking on a new and ambitious program using chess to help underprivileged kids learn strategy and critical thinking to solve life problems. Pontus, a duel citizen of Sweden and Colombia, has over 25 years of experience teaching chess throughout Europe and has used his skills to win the Swedish Championship 12 times! BUSINESS MEETS CHESS AND KIDS is a project that creates mutually beneficial meetings across the board by connecting business executives and kids from underprivileged areas of the city. Please join us at these events: School Workshop: Monday, October 15 at Patrick F. Talyor School, 701 Churchill Parkway in Avondale at 2:30pm, Public Tandem Simul: Wednesday, October 17 at the French Market Food Court at 11am, Chess Duel and Business Social: 2nd Vine Wine, 1027 Touro Street, 7pm and Community Workshop: Thursday, October 18, The Lyons Center, 624 Louisiana Avenue at 6pm. OUR GOAL, we will work with kids from schools and chess clubs in the greater New Orleans area initially then hopefully spreading across the nation. Each participating youth will get a chess set, access to chess application and membership in a chess club so they can practice chess and through the project develop their concentration abilities, problem solving, calculation skills, as well as logical and critical thinking. These abilities will be very beneficial in chess and life. “I would recommend any player master level and below to take advantage of GM Pontus years of experience, coaching abilities, and clear explanation of each phase of chess.” (Glenn Bady US Master)   For more information please contact Media Relations Ken Mask 504.908.0337 kenmaskmd@gmail.com Pontus Carlsson p.carlssonchess@gmail.com Taurusm Bailey taurusmbailey@gmail.com