Southern Region Chess League (SRCL) has bemoaned lack of sponsorship of chess tournaments in the country.

Publicity Secretary for the league Wadza Otomani said this as Malawi joined the international community in celebrating the International Chess Day on July 20, 2020.

The International Chess Day coincides with the 96th anniversary of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), established in Paris, France on July 20, 1924.

Under FIDE initiative, July 20 has been observed as International Chess Day since 1966.

This year’s celebration is being observed under the theme: “Teach someone how to play chess”.

Otomani has appealed to chess players in the country to celebrate the day by teaching others how to play the game.

Otomani said: “This is a day to celebrate chess and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) is appealing to the chess community to teach their children, spouses, relatives or friends about the game.”

He said statistics indicate that overall interest in chess on the international scene has been increasing over the past few months with more players playing chess online.

“This has also been the trend in Malawi where more players are now playing chess on platforms like www.chess.com and www.lichess.org and at a time COVID-19 has adversely affected sporting activities, interest in chess has been increasing thanks to technology,” Otomani said.

Otomani appealed to individuals and organisations to provide funding towards the development of the sport.

“Sponsoring online chess tournaments is cost-effective because we save on costs like booking venues and other logistical expenses and on top of that there is also a huge return on investment for sponsors,” he said.