Kasparov Chess Africa to host three ‘Millionaire’ tourneys!

Contact: Graham Jurgensen
Position: Executive Director – Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa
Email: grahamjurg@gmail.com

Contact: Sid Gandhi
Position: Operations Manager – Millionaire Chess
Email: support@millionairechess.com

KASPAROV CHESS FOUNDATION AFRICA TO RUN MILLIONAIRE CHESS SATELLITE TOURNAMENTS IN 3 AFRICAN COUNTRIES

January 29, 2015 – Millionaire Chess has announced that the Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa (KCFA) will organize three Millionaire Chess satellite tournaments in Africa in 2015. The three events will form part of Millionaire Chess’ Global Satellite Program that awards winners of locally run chess tournaments an automatic qualification spot to play in the 2nd Millionaire Chess Open, scheduled to be held in Las Vegas from October 8 – 12, 2015. The prize fund of the event is $1,000,000, the highest purse for any Open chess tournament in the world.

“Millionaire Chess is thrilled to be working with the KCFA to support their mission of bringing exciting chess opportunities to players in Africa,” said Maurice Ashley, the first African-American International Grandmaster and Partner at Millionaire Chess. “We believe that events such as these are essential to raising the level of chess awareness worldwide.”

Graham Jurgensen, the Executive Director of KCFA, welcomed the collaboration and praised the team at Millionaire Chess for their willingness to support emerging players from Africa. He explained that opportunities to participate in events of this nature are rare in Africa as the costs of international participation often prove to be prohibitive for many of the continents best players. “We are delighted to partner with the team at Millionaire Chess, and we look forward to watching the continents best players fight it out for this unique opportunity.”

The 13th World Chess Champion, GM Garry Kasparov, has also endorsed the relationship by stating,

“I am happy that the Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa can work with the organizers of such a prestigious event as the Millionaire Chess Open to bring an amazing opportunity to players in Africa. These Millionaire Chess satellite events represent just another one of the many significant partnerships that the KCF network is building around the world to promote the game of chess.”

~ GM Garry Kasparov

The three satellite tournaments will be held in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya before the end of August 2015. The final dates, schedules and venues for the three separate events will be announced in the forthcoming weeks. Updated information will be found at https://millionairechess.com/satellite-program as well as on the Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/KCFAfrica)

For more details, contact Sid Gandhi, Operations Manager – Millionaire Chess at support@millionairechess.com or Graham Jurgensen, Executive Director – Kasparov Chess Foundation Africa at grahamjurg@gmail.com.