We need your help to give 8 children from underprivileged backgrounds gadgets (500USD), clothes (12USD/piece) and internet access (100 USD) so they can participate in the upcoming Chess 2 Change tournament that will be held online on June 29 from 12 noon to 4pm US Eastern Time, with GM Maurice Ashley and the top streamer Agadmator with 1,34 million subscribers on Youtube as commentators.

You can support the children here https://gofund.me/c3ad3f10 and follow the event here https://www.twitch.tv/Chess2Change

We have great news, The investor, entrepreneur and podcaster James Altucher will be one of the participants in our upcoming big Chess 2 Change charity event on chess.com. There is still a few places left for adults to join. Please read more about Chess 2 Change on the link below https://businessmeetschessandkids.com/chess-to-change and contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you would like to play. The games will be broadcasted on our Twitch channel https://www.twitch.tv/Chess2Change with GM Maurice Ashley and the top streamer Agadmator with more than 1,34 million subscribers on Youtube doing the commentaries.

A big shoutout to SEB for being excellent hosts.

GM Pontus Carlsson was the celebrity guest when Základní školu v Chebu wanted to inaugurate their new big outdoor chess board. The GM first cut the band, and then did a Q&A before he took on the whole school in an exhibition game. GM Pontus won the game after winning the queen but he was very impressed by the level of the children that was playing. He then finished his visit with signing a lot of autographs, doing some interviews with the media and of course accepting blitz challenges from some of the children in the schools chess club.

The GM also announced a donation of chess sets to the schools chess club so more kids can start to play chess and encouraged all students to learn English. A great move by the GM.

See some highlights from the visit in the video below by TV Chebsko

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1915329709297713

If you also would like to participate in the upcoming charity chess tournament, Chess 2 Change that is being organized in favor of the children engaged in our programs on June 29th from 12 noon to 4pm US Eastern Time, then please contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com

If you would like to support the kids then it can be done here https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=K99FUGQ3NZNDL

Watch the broadcast with GM Maurice Ashley here https://www.twitch.tv/Chess2Change

If you are a business person or a company that likes to play chess then you should join our networking event in Oslo on June 10. It will be held at SEBs headquarter between 6pm and 11pm Central European Time. The evening will be fun and social and of course involve a tandem chess tournament. Contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you would like to attend.

Team SPP won Business Meets Chess & Kids in Stockholm that was hosted at the Headquarter of the big pension fund SPP. They defeated Umain with Sajak and Oliver in the final. Shared third was The author Leo Brodin and Miona and SPPs second team with Alexander Karlsson and Sebastian Shi.

We would like to thank SPP for being excellent hosts and all participant, plus our sponsors. Thankyou and we are already looking forward to the big autumn event in Stockholm at Cederquist Lawfirm. Stay tunned for the date.

Business Meets Chess & Kids in Linkoping was this time held outdoors at the Central Park of Linkoping, during the Job fair “Nice day” that focus on Inclusion, Diversity and Equity. It was a great success since the participants were having fun, media was there and covered the event, and the open chess boards were full all the time. Thankyou Linkoping for this time.

On May 24 IM Hampus Sorensen will guest the Cross Culture Girls program to hold an online session about the interesting topic of piece exchanges. The session will run between 9 am to 10.30 US Eastern Time. If you are a girl that would like to attend the session then please send an email to lishen@businessmeetschessandkids.com

To join Cross Culture Girls and attend the online training session with GM Johan Hellsten please reach out to Mrs. Lishen Mentile on lishen@businessmeetschessandkids.com

Chess 2 Change is back, so now we are looking for adults from the whole world who would like to participate in the next Chess 2 Change tournament on June 29 (12 noon – 4pm US Eastern Time). It is a hand & brain, charity chess tournament, in favor of some African chess talents from poor backgrounds held online on chess.com. Every child is being paired up with a donor to form a team of two. The tournament will be broadcasted on Twitch and commentary will be done by GM Maurice Ashley and a top streamer.

This sounds fun How do I sign up

To join the tournament a donation to the children is required. Please reach out to us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you would like to play. And if you would like to support the children then it can be done here https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=K99FUGQ3NZNDL

Coach Pudungwane Lesole who heads the Cross Culture Girls program in Botswana has been nominated to the BNSC Sports Awards as COACH OF THE YEAR. And he is up against Coach Dose Mosimanyane (Athletics) and Sensei Ofentse Bakwandi (Karate). He has also been nominated to the Vunani Annual Botswana Women Sports Awards (HE FOR SHE CHAMPION) for his work with the girls. This award is handed out to men who are contributing to women sports in Botswana. And there he is up against Ofentse Bakwadi (Karate) and Collar Mosimakoko (Athletics). We of course hope that he will win both awards but in our minds he is already a winner for his fantastic work with the girls. We are happy to see that Business Meets Chess & Kids continue to impact the Botswanan sports scene and society.

Mercy Ingado from Kenya showed no mercy in her last two tournaments Waridi Chess Festival and The Kenyan University Chess Championships were she emerged victorious. Through her victory in the later tournament she also won the rights to represent Kenya in the World University Chess Championships in Abu Dhabi later this year. Well played Mercy and a big thankyou to her coach IM Hampus Sorensen that has taken her game to another level.

The Norwegian 20 year old star Elham Amar from our extreme makeover program just won a bronze medal at The World Junior Chess Championships that was held in Petrovac in Montenegro. Elham had a very modest start with 2 out of 4 but managed to do an impressive comeback scoring 6,5 out of 7 in the last 7 rounds. He had the same points as the silver medalist Matic Lavrencic (8,5) but was edged out on tiebreak. The Indian Grandmaster Pranav V won another major World Championships title to India. Big congratulations to Elham and a big shoutout to his sponsor the Norwegian impact Investor FERD who helped us to make this possible. Elhams success shows what can happen if children from poor backgrounds just get a chance. Sky is the limit.

GM Pontus Carlsson won the rapid tournament K Cero Invest Rapid that was held in Prague as a major event during the Prague Chess Festival. The tournament was open to business owners and top managers. GM Pontus won clear first with 5 points out of 6 games. He was then also invited to make the ceremonial first move in the game between Vincent Keymer and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in the Masters Tournament. The game ended in a win for Pragg.

The next Cross Culture Girls event, will be an online training with GM Hellsten on March 16 from 9am – 10.30am US Eastern Time. The training will be open for all girls and focus on endgame tactics. If you would like to join the the Cross Culture Girls program and the training then send an email to Mrs. Lishen Mentile on lishen@businessmeetschessandkids.com

We are thrilled to announce the results of this year’s highly competitive Zero Requiem Charity Chess Tournament held in online on chess.com on the 16th February. With players from around the globe showcasing their incredible skills and strategic prowess, the tournament was a true celebration of chess.
✨ Top 3
Winner – CM Robert Mcligeyo (Kenya)
With a remarkable performance throughout the tournament, Robert clinched the top spot with an impressive score of 5.5/6. His tactical brilliance and endgame finesse were on full display, earning him the coveted title.

Runner Up – IM Saad Abobaker Elmi (Norway)
FM Saad dazzled us with his creative playing style and resilient play. Finishing strong with a score of 5.5/6 he demonstrated exceptional skill and determination.

Third Place – Mercy Ingado (Kenya)
Mercy’s improved openings and tactical abilities earned her third place with a strong score of 5/6. Big praise to her coach IM Hampus Sörensen who really has stepped up her game.

You can still support the kids with a donation here
A massive thank you to everyone who has donated to the cause, to the commentators GM Pontus Carlsson, GM Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade who provided the 90 928 viewers with superb entertainment and to Ruben Harris who came up with the idea to host regular charity chess tournaments throughout the whole year. The next big charity event online will be a Chess 2 Change tournament in June, stay tuned for the date.

On February 16 we will organize a big charity chess tournament in favor of the children engaged in our programs. Join us today to play some fun and social rapid games online with the kids and other supporters around the globe. Prominent business people like Boaz Weinstein who is the founder of Saba Capital and Enrique Guzman who is the founder of Chess 24 will be playing. Another player to follow will be Tunde Onakoya who is the founder of our partner organization Chess in Slums.

Day: February 16th

Time: 11.30am – 02.30pm US Eastern Time

Tournament details: 6 rounds of 10 minute games on chess.com

Starting Fee: a donation to the children engaged in our programs

Donate here

Sign up here

On February 16 11.30am – 02.30pm US Eastern time we will organize a charity chess tournament online on chess.com in favor of the children engaged in our programs. If you like to play chess and would like to help us support the kids with chess books, clothes, internet, chess training and devices, then feel free to join. There will be 6 rounds of 10 min games and the starting fee is a donation to the children (min donation 100 USD). The tournament will feature children engaged in our programs and adult supporters from around the world. It will be broadcasted with GM commentators and you can sign up here . If you cannot make the tournament but would like to support the children then it can be done here

See you all on February 16

Jan 26, 9am-10.30am US Eastern Time – Cross Culture Girls Endgame Training with GM Johan Hellsten

February 16, 11.30am-02.30pm US Eastern Time – Zero Requiem Charity Chess Tournament

The Career Karma founder Ruben Haris will be playing in our online charity tournament Zero Requiem Charity Chess Tournament at chess.com on February 16th. And you can join aswell. Save the date and stay tuned, more information will come soon.

The kids just keep on winning. In fact they are winning so many tournaments that we have problems to keep up with all their victories. Among all the wins then we would like to highlight 10 year old Talia from Uganda that just won the East African Junior Championships. A fantastic performance and no wonder that her mother had a hard time to find the right words. Well done Talia we are very proud over you.

Other winners at the East African Junior Championships was Tandeka Shiloh that won the u18 section, Jamie Kanogo that won the u16 section and Yvone Mwashe and Genevieve Mashao that won the u16 and u18 girls section.

Another winner from our programs is 9-year old Thea Alexandra Homtako from Norway who won the open section under 9 at the Norwegian Youth Championships. Our forcast is that Thea will keep making the boys cry since she does not take any prisoners on her way forward. We are very proud over Thea and would like to thank her sponsor FERD aswell.

We have got to know that our last set of chess books have arrived safely to the children that we support. We are very happy to hear that and wish everyone some nice learning time. Abigail from Kenya got so happy that she sent us this picture of her studying with her new books and chess board. If you would like to support the children with a chess book then feel free to donate 30 USD here

The Kenyan teenage sensation Robert Mcligeyo from our Chess 2 Change program continued his dominance by winning the Kenyan Championships for the third year in a row. This time he also won a brand new car! He scored 8 points on the 9 rounds and impressed with strong play and strong nerves. We are very proud over him and this shows what can happen when a child gets some support and a chance.

GM Pontus Carlsson meet up with the Nobel Prize winner Demis Hassabis in Stockholm and they of course played a game that ended in a draw. Demis was in Sweden to receive his Nobel Prize in chemistry, but like he said himself he can always make some time for chess. The event was held at the office of the Swedish impact investor firm Trill Impact, who is the baby of another chess player the Swedish billionaire Jan Ståhlberg. Demis is an avid chessplayer and he shares our passion and conviction that chess can be an excellent tool for social change. We are happy to have such a smart and successful mind among our supporters.

The strongest youngster engaged in our programs, Grandmaster Elham Amar will be heading to New York over Christmas and New Years Eve. He will participate in the World Championships in Blitz & Rapid at the legendary Wall Street. We wish him all the best, and some nice wins and we will definitely come and cheer for him. Go Elham!

Saad Elmi from our extreme makeover program keeps making us proud. He has had an impressive run under 2024 where he has surpassed 2400 in FIDE elo, won a bronze medal at the European Youth Championships and now he can also add the IM title to this. He managed to score his last IM norm at the World Youth Chess Championships in Brazil. Very impressive from the 18-year old talent who had a FIDE rating of 1800 just 3 years ago. Next year he is very eager to start chasing the GM title, and we will of course help him to reach his goal. A big thankyou to his sponsor, the Norwegian impact investing firm Ferd.

Join us for the Cross Culture Girls November Tournament. On November 30th we will host a blitz tournament that is open for all our girls on chess.com. It will be 7 rounds with the time control 4+2. To sign up just send an email to lishen@businessmeetschessandkids.com. May the best girl win.

On Saturday November 16th 09.30 – 11.00 US Eastern Time Cross Culture Girls will host WGM Aleksandra Dimitrijevic as a guest lecturer. She will teach the girls how to evaluate their position, create a proper plan plus how to identify the right candidate moves. If you would like to attend please email Lishen Mentile at lishen@businessmeetschessandkids.com

It was Jamie Kanogo from Kenya and FM Arvin Rasti from Sweden that emerged victorious in an exciting final against 13-year old Fantalis Nduta from Kenya and Mr Dodgy from Scotland. We had a fantastic event with alot of exciting games and friendship relations being created. The games were played on chess.com and GM Maurice Ashley and GM Ben Finegold was entertaining the crowd with their witty comments. The whole event was broadcasted on our Twitch Channel and through the stream there we managed to raise more than 7000 USD for the children engaged in the Chess 2 Change Program. A big thankyou to all participants, arbiters, staff and last but not least to all our supporters out there who supports us with their donations.

Watch the show here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xrg5WAilww&t=11s

If you would like to support the children do that here https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=K99FUGQ3NZNDL

The Norwegian chess talent Saad Elmi from our Extreme Makeover program made us all proud at the European Youth Blitz Championships in Prague, Czech Republic where he won a bronze medal in the u18 open category. A fantastic performance and a big thankyou to his his sponsor FERD who has made all this possible. Congratulations Saad from all of us.

Now we are looking for adults from the whole world who would like to participate in the next Chess 2 Change tournament on August 25th (12 noon – 4pm US Eastern Time). It is a hand & brain charity tournament in favor of some African chess talents from poor backgrounds held online on chess.com. Every child is being paired up with a donor to form a team of two. The tournament will be broadcasted on Twitch and commentary will be done by GM Maurice Ashley and a top streamer. Please reach out to us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you would like to play or support the children.

The World Chess Federation have now awarded the Norwegian chess talent Elham Amar from our Extreme Makeover program the GM title. Elham is the first Grandmaster that has emerged through our programs. We are extremely proud of him and would like to to thank all people that has helped him get to where he is today. And an extra big thankyou to his sponsor FERD and its CEO Morten Borge and to his coach GM Simen Agdestein. Elham is also about to graduate at The Norwegian School of Elite Sports before he will become a chess professional, an amazing story and we are happy that we saw his potential 8 years ago!

The 18 year old Norwegian chess talent Saad Elmi from our extreme makeover program just scored his second IM- norm at a closed norm tournament in Zadar in Croatia. Saad just missed out on the GM norm with 0,5 points after failing to convert a won position in the last game. To his comfort he will be able to go home with the IM-norm after drawing 3 GMs and staying undefeated through the 9 rounds. He scored 6 out of 9 and finished second in the tournament. We wish him best luck in the Zadar Chess Festival which is his next tournament.

GM Pontus Carlsson visit New York and our two partner organizations, The Gift of Chess with co founder Russell Makofsky and Chess in Slums with its founder Tunde Onakoya. The three Gentlemen, who shares a joint passion in using chess as a tool for social change exchanged many ideas, and came up with some joint projects for the future. Stay tuned since there is big things coming…

Hannah Mawejje and Magnus Carlsen and their families for the tragic death of their parents Geoffrey Mawejje and Sigrun Øen. May them rest in peace.

In the next Cross Culture Girls session on July 14th at 09.30am US Eastern Time, The International arbiter Judit Sztaray from Hungary will go through the importance of knowing the rules and how it can be a decesive factor in a tense tournament. Girls, really do not miss this session since it will cost you many future victories. Judit will of course also be arbiter at the Chess 2 Change tournament on August 25th. Contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you are interested to play and support.

Quite some few of our young talents had qualified for the African Youth Chess Championships in South Africa. They returned home alot wiser and with some medals. The gold medal was bagged home by 10-year old Talia Atubet from Uganda in the u-10 girls category. Nathaniel Manyeki missed the first round to to travel issues but still managed to win a silver in the u10 open category. Then there was many players who placed just outside of the medals who will come back stronger next time. We are very proud of all of you. Most important was that they got the chance to meet up in person and cultivate the friendship relations that have started online through our programs.

The theme for our next Cross Culture Girls session on June 29th (9 – 10.30 am US Eastern Time) is Colombia. There will be a general introduction to Colombia by Alba and Lorena from our Cross Culture Girls program plus a quiz on Colombia and a master class by FICM Alfredo Rojas. Enjoy, and do not miss it.

12-year old Deborah Quickpen from Nigeria is now rated 2nd in the world among girls u12. She has been very active lately with tournaments and a tough blitz match with the founder of Chess in Slums Tunde Onakoya. The match ended in a 4-4 draw.

Deborah who comes from the Chess in Slums project, is in our Cross Culture Girls and Chess 2 Change Program so she will be playing in the next Chess 2 Change tournament on August 25th. But first she is off to the World Cup in Georgia. We wish her god luck!

Do not miss to join the next Cross Culture Girls Session on June 1st with WIM Fiona Steil Antoni who will talk about how she has made a living out of chess. Join us from 7am – 08.30 US Eastern Time.

Under the lead by GM Pontus Carlsson, We decided to visit one of our partners in Sweden, SEB, at their headquarter in Stockholm.

It was a group of economy interested youths from our programs that met up with Investment professionals from SEB Investment Banking. It was a very beneficial visit where the youth got a chance to ask their questions.

And yes we of course played some chess aswell.

It was a tandem chess tournament where every youth was paired with an Investment professional. After 5 tough rounds a winner was crowned, and it was Patrik Lagerholm and Vidar Seiger who won all their games.

A big thankyou to SEB for the great visit.

We had a very successful event at FERDs Headquarter in Oslo. The worlds best chessplayer GM Magnus Carlsen played together with his girlfriend Ella Malone and we were all surprised over how well Ella plays. The team finished 3rd in the tournament after loosing the semi final. Winners was GM Simen Agdestein and Abdirizak Elmi who beat Team FERD with the CEO of FERD Morten Borge and Saad Elmi in the final.

A big thankyou to FERD, the commentator GM Jon Ludvig Hammer and all participants for an excellent evening with chess and networking.

The first big event was held in Gothenburg at the shoppingmall Nordstan. 28 teams participated and Team Scandza with Amir Mohammadi and Elvis Surakka won all 7 games and became Champions. A big thankyou to the sponsors Nordstan, PWC, Thunderful Group and Lansforsikringar for two excellent days of chess and inspiring meetings across borders.

Business Meets Chess & Kids in Stockholm

On May 14 from 2.30pm – 6pm (CEST) 24 teams will meet up at SPPs Headquarter in Stockholm on Vasagatan 10 to network and play some tandem chess together. We still have some free spots left for adults so contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you and your company would like to participate.

3 of the children engaged in our programs just became Kenyan Champions.

Nathaniel Manyeki (u10 open), Winnie Kaburo (u10 girls) and Shukri Shakira (u14 girls). Congratulations! we are of course very proud over them and this shows that everything is possible if a child just gets a chance (and some GM training…) There was no rest for them, no they headed directly to Peru for the World School Championships and we wish them good luck there.

It was 18 year old Robert Mcligeyo from Kenya that emerged victorious after 6 rounds of 10 minut games against other youngsters engaged in our programs aswell as supporting adults. Robert won the first 5 games and then secured his win through a draw in a winning position against Mr Dodgy who ended up in 5th place. Second was Alton Banda from Zambia. Alton have increased his FIDE elo from 1782 to 2068 in the last 8 months. He is approaching a bright future but needs more support, to cover training and tournament expenses. Just reach out to us if you would like to support him.

Third was Perpetual Ogbiyoyo from Nigeria who had a great tournament with 5 wins and only 1 loss. Perpetual is country coordinator for Nigeria in our Cross Culture Girls program.

Other noteworthy performances was Kennedy Shane from Zambia on 4th place and Lesley Hunter who placed 10th after scoring 4 points. An excellent performance from the former Miss Florida who started to play chess after watching The Queen´s Gambit on Netflix. A big Thankyou to our team of excellent arbiters, to Ruben Harris, to all participants and to our sponsors Chess.com and Chessable.

Do not miss the next Cross Culture Girls class with Grandmaster Johan Hellsten. He will teach you how to calculate in chess, something that is very important in order to be able to win games. Contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you are a girl and would like to join the Cross Culture Girls program.

Our 8 year old talent Nathaniel Manyeki emerged as the 2nd runner-up in the Most Promising Personality of the Year 2023 category at the Sports Personality of The Year Award, Kenya (SOYA Awards). The reigning Under 8 Africa Youth Champion showcased his exceptional talent by achieving a perfect score at the Africa Youth Chess Championship held last year in Egypt.

The president of The Kenyan Chess Federation, Benard Wanjala along with Nathaniel Manyeki’s family and friends, gathered at the KICC Nairobi for the award ceremony, celebrating his remarkable accomplishments.

The SOYA Awards, marking its 20th anniversary this year, brought together a multitude of sportspeople from various disciplines across Kenya. This celebration of excellence united partners from well established Kenyan organizations like, CMA, Safaricom, KAS, and the Paul Tergat Foundation.

Nathaniel, who is the current Under 8 Boys’ Kenya National Chess Champion, the title he has held for three consecutive years, started playing chess in 2021 and has secured a podium finish in many regional tournaments under different age categories, frequently taking on bigger challenges in the open events against much higher rated players such as the Kenya and Uganda Open.

Milestones Achieved:

● Current Africa Youth Chess Champion under 8 Open, having emerged victorious with 9/9 points at the 2023 championship in Cairo, Egypt. He was awarded the title of Candidate Master (CM).

● Current U8 National Chess Champion, the title he has held for three consecutive years (2021, 2022, 2023)

● Current U9 Open National Chess Champion (2023)

● National Chess Champion U7 Open ( 2021, 2022 )

● Regional Champion and podium finisher in various competitions: (2022) – Kajiado 1st in U10 Open, Nairobi region 1st in U8 Open, Machakos Region 1st  in U10 Open, St. Bakhita Open 1st in U8, Sanlam invitational 1st U12 Open, Village Market 2nd in U10 Open, (2021) Nairobi Region 2nd in U7 Open, Village Market Open 2nd U8 Open, Kitengela Open 1st U8 Open, Oshwal Academy 1st in U8 Open.

For the first time in the History of Business Meets Chess & Kids we organized a Tandem Chess Tournament just for women at The HQ of EY, located just in the centre of Oslo. The event was a big success so we will definately organize more tandem chess tournaments for women. Congratulations to the champions Hanna Kyrkjebø from KPMG and Siri Asheim from Itera. We would also like to thank the main sponsor EY and all participants for a fantastic afternoon.

The registration is now open for the Zero Requiem April Invitational. Feel free to join this charity 10 minute tournament in favor of the kids engaged in Business Meets Chess & Kids. The tournament will feature some of our kids combined with adult supporters from the whole world. If you would like to support the kids and play some chess, then join the tournament! FM James Canty will comment on the games. To sign up just click here And you can follow the tournament on our Twitch Channel https://www.twitch.tv/chess2change Enjoy the games!

14 year old Zuri Tatiina from Uganda who is engaged in our Chess 2 Change program managed to qualify for the Ladies Uganda National Chess Championship. An excellent performance by this creative 14-year old talent and she is of course the youngest participant in the field. Can she qualify for the national team and the Chess Olympiad, we hope so. You can follow her quest to qualify here

Good luck Zuri!

Do not miss the next Cross Culture Girls class with Grandmaster Johan Hellsten. He will teach you how to calculate in chess something that is very important in order to be able to win a chess game. Contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you are a girl and would like to join the Cross Culture Girls program.

Cross Culture Girls are starting up the new year with a training session by Grandmaster Johan Hellsten on January 13th 09.30 – 11.00am US Eastern Time. This time he will teach us prophylaxis which is a very useful middlegame technique. If you are not yet a member of Cross Culture Girls program and would like to join then just send an email to info@businessmeetschessandkids.com and we will guide you on how to join the program.

Schedule for January

January 13th, 09.30 – 11.00 US Eastern Time – Training session with GM Johan Hellsten

January 21st, 10.30am – 1pm US Eastern Time – Cross Culture Girls January Blitz Tournament

See you soon!

The tournament on January 21st will be held between 10.30am – 1pm US Eastern Time. It will be broadcasted on our Twitch Chanel with Grandmaster Hovhannes Gabuzyan and the streamer Solveig Friberg doing the commentary. Do not miss it!

The Norwegian talent Saad Elmi won the rapid online tournament Zero Requiem 2023 Invitational. It was alot of fun and the players were a great mix of young talents that are engaged in our programs and adult supporters from the whole world.

Top 3 was

1 Saad Elmi Norway 2. Robert Mcligeyo Kenya 3. Marek Religa Sweden

Perpetual Ogbiyoyo from Nigeria did well with a top 10 finish

For some of the players this was their first chess tournament ever. One of them was the founder of Zero Requiem Ruben Harris who did very well and won 3 games and ended up as number 22 out of 40 players. Ruben was very excited and he is already training for the next tournament Zero Requiem April Invitational that will be held on April 28th, 10.30am – 1.30pm US Eastern Time. Contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you are interested to participate or support the kids.

We would like to thank all participants and our prize sponsors chess.com Chessable and Jennifer Shahade who sponsored with her new book Play like a Champion

See you all on April 28th!

We wish all kids, adults, sponsors, trainers and partners a great 2024.

Thank you for 2023 and see you in 2024!

Sunday December 17th is the day we have all been waiting for since then the online tournament Zero Requiem 2023 Invitational will be played. The players will be a mix of kids engaged in Business Meets Chess & Kids programs, adults and business executives like Ruben Harris who is the Founder of Zero Requiem Chess Club. Commentary will be done by Grandmasters like the Super Grandmaster Peter Svidler. The Tournament will be streamed 10.55am – 1.30pm US Eastern Time on our twitch channel. Watch it here! https://www.twitch.tv/chess2change

Tournament Form: Online, 6 rounds, 10 minute games

Platform: Chess.com

Prizes: GM Lessons, Chess.com Diamond Memberships, Chessable Memberships and Jennifer Shahades last book Play Like a Girl are up for a grab.

To sign up as an adult

If you would like to play then please email us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com

Thanks to our sponsors chess.com and chessable.com

May the best player win!

On Saturday December 16 there will be a Masterclass 09.30 – 11.00am US Eastern Time by the Swedish Grandmaster Johan Hellsten. It is open for all girls in the Cross Culture Girls program. If you are not yet part of the program but would like to join, then please contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com

See you on Saturday!

Hundreds of people were watching our last event in Linköping where even the Mayor of Linköping Mikael Sanfridsson decided to participate and play some tandem chess together with youngsters from the innercity community Skäggetorp.

The tandem chess tournament was won by Fredrik Lindgren and Hassan Alhashash who played extremely fast in all their games and thus stressed their opponents into mistakes.

The Open Tandem Chess Tournament was won by Nils Lindkvister and Simon Olsson.

We would like to thank Linköping University and all participants and sponsors for an excellent day of chess and networking. See you again in 2024.

The Norwegian talent Saad Elmi who is engaged in our extreme makeover program, is in the race for a medal at The World Youth Chess Championships that is currently ongoing in Montesilvano, Italy. Saad has 5 points out of 7 and today he is up against the top seed Volodar Murzin (FIDE elo 2625). We hope that Saad can keep playing well, and grab some more wins in the medal race. Good luck Saad and a big thank you to his sponsor FERD.

Follow the games here

https://lichess.org/broadcast/fide-world-youth-championship-2023–u18/round-7/2Y1tCRhR

Follow the results here

https://chess-results.com/tnr843252.aspx?lan=1

We have Places left

Now we are looking for companies and business representatives that would like to participate.
Please contact us on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com if you and your company would like to participate.

Full schedule

2-3 pm Challenge The Swedish International Gabriel Nguyen in a blitz game

3-6 pm The closed tandem chess tournament

4-6 pm The open tandem chess tournament where anyone can participate. contact us at info@businessmeetschessandkids.com to sign up and for more information.

Welcome to a chess party!

A very sucessful afternoon that shows the social power of chess. We would like to thank The Law Firm Cederquist who hosted the event and all our participants and sponsors for a fantastic afternoon.

It was a fun afternoon with many laughs and meetings. Contacts were exchanged among the participants and internships and company visits were promised and booked.

The Norwegian talent IM Elham Amar from the extreme makeover program is getting close to the GM title. Elham who is now 18, has shown some impressive results lately with a tournament win in the strong Riga Technical University Open as the highligt. Elham has increased his FIDE rating to 2584 and will soon become Grandmaster. An impressive development that has been posssible due to his coach GM Simen Agdestein and his sponsor FERD. We are very excited to see what the future has in hold for Norways latest star.

Boston Consulting Group with Abdishakur Elmi and the BCG partner Awais Ali won Business Meets Chess & Kids in Oslo with impressive, well synced tandem play. In the semifinal they managed to beat Ernst & Young with Marte Bakken Kyrkjebø and Maria Sultana Ahmad. The winners also won a watch from Von Doren Watches.

And in an exciting final Abdishakur and Awais managed to beat FERD with Abdishakurs older brother FM Saad Elmi and the CEO of FERD Morten Borge. The whole event was commented by IM Torstein Bae who is a well known face in Norway since he also heads NRKs Chess TV broadcasts that has a massive viewership (about 1/3! of Norways inhabitants).

We would like to thank all the participants and sponsors for an excellent afternoon at Økern Portal. It was also fun to see big profiles like world nr1 Magnus Carlsen and Grandmaster Simen Agdestein attending the event as spectators. Simen even got to play some games in the open tandem chess tournament.

11 year old Elizabeth Cassidy keeps on improving and making us proud. She recently beat all the adults and won the Kisumu Classical Chess Tournament with 5,5 points out of 6. She just got a GM coach and has improved alot in a very short time. We are very excited to be a part of her future progress towards the top.

Results

https://chess-results.com/tnr842966.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=6&flag=30

Do not miss our next Cross Culture Girls session on November 18th at 09.30-11.00 US Eastern Time. Grandmaster Johan Hellsten will be the guest teacher and he will go through middlegame strategies. If you are not yet a member of the Cross Culture Girls but would like to join then please send us an email on info@businessmeetschessandkids.com

The Kenyan big talent and African Champion under 8, Nathaniel Manyeki continued his strong run by beating a bunch of 1600 rated players and bagging home about 50 rating points to his account. Nathaniel was also interviewed by The Standard Newspaper about his recent success at the chessboard. We are all very proud over him and much more is to come!

Join our Cross Culture Girls October Blitz Tournament on Sunday October 22rd where girls from 14 different countries will play each other in a 7 rounds blitz tournament.

When: October 22nd

Time: 10.30am – 12.30pm US Eastern Time

IMPORTANT: join the zoom call at 10am US Eastern Time.

Register: by sending an email to info@businessmeetschessandkids.com

Live Broadcast: the tournament will be broadcasted on https://www.twitch.tv/chess2change with Grandmaster commentaries.

Prizes: are sponsored by https://www.chessable.com

May the best girl win!

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.

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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.