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Governor and Deputy Chief Minister visit chess festival

Joseph Garcia Visits Chess 280119 (Photo John Bugeja )

The Gibraltar International Chess Festival has seen visits this week from the Governor and the Deputy Chief Minister who have been impressed by the success of the festival’s world-wide growth in its 17 year history. The Gibraltar Masters now in its final days will have a 2019 winner on Thursday.

Governor Lieutenant General Edward Davis visited on Sunday and received a few pointers on how to play chess.

Pic by David Llada

Pic by David Llada

Supporting the festival for the fourth successive year he was shown round the playing areas by Chief Arbiter Laurent Freyd. His interest was not must on the top boards but across the room including the game with the youngest GM in the Gibraltar Masters 12-year-old Gukesh from India.

Interviewed live on the daily web show streamed across the world Mr Davis commented on how Gibraltar felt very proud of its contribution to the great game and how it had helped its progression around the world in its live streaming.

“Little Gibraltar has again proved it does not have to be big to be mighty and it has developed a relationship with global world chess which Gibraltar is very proud of.”
He further commented how the festival was a great platform to develop some Gibraltarian players.
“Competition is one legacy but how fantastic to see a budding generation of Gibraltarian chess players coming through,” he added.

Pic by David Llada

Pic by David Llada

GIB IS ON THE MAP SAYS DCM
For Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia yesterday was his seventeenth year at the festival.

He once again reiterated how chess had put Gibraltar on the map. He toured the playing areas with Mr Freyd and later commented that there are many international sports and events which take place in Gibraltar but that chess remains the most international.

“With 62 countries represented here today this is an immense achievement. I don’t believe another sport equals this in terms of participation and number of countries represented,” he said in a live interview on the daily web show with Jovanka Houska.

Dr Garcia said that over the years it had been very encouraging to see the many young people who had and continued to take up chess locally. The Government, he added, would continue to support this international event in the future.

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