Founder wants more children playing chess

 JUST one step away from being the new and first Papua New Guinea  Chess Federation, founder Mark Aiio is ambitious about setting up the foundation.

The the Open Chess Children’s Festival, which was supposed to be staged on October 16, has been deferred to late November or early December and will be held at the Ela Murray International School, in Port Moresby.

The former PNG chess representative said the tournament was deferred because of late documents being approved by the Investment Promotion Authority.

“The tournament will proceed once we finalise documents with IPA,” he said.

The two-day tournament is open to anyone but emphasis is placed on children.

There are 50-plus participants who have confirmed participation, with 30 of them being children.

Aiio said it was his dream to get more people involved in such a unique sport and children were the target.

Aiio, from Kairuku, Central, is one of the few national representatives around who is determined to revive the sport.

He started playing chess in 197.

Aiio went on flying the national flag high at the Norfolk Island Chess Festival in 1987 and in 1992 at the World Chess Olympiad in the Philippines.