More than thirty players drawn from different chess clubs across the country took part in the competition, with the best twenty players during the tournament selected for the finals slated for April.
The six best players will be selected for the national team and to represent The Gambia for next Olympiad in Azerbaijan.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, the President of the Gambia Chess Federation, Alh Antouman Njie, expressed delight in witnessing yet another milestone achievement by the federation in its endeavour to promote and decentralize the game across the country.
Chess will soon be introduced in the schools as thirty schools have already been identified for the programme, according to the GCF’S boss, who added that materials are also already in the country.
Ebou Secka of the National Sports Council commended the chess federation for organizing the championship and further challenged them to be steadfast as the NSC expects all national associations/federations to be active as well as be organizing national competitions.
Mr Secka reiterated the commitment of the NSC as well as its support for the national association at all times.
