Mr. Phillip Ameku President of the Ghana Chess Association (GCA), has said, American Grandmaster Maurice Ashley’s visit to Ghana is to mentor the budding talents in the sport.

A fortnight ago, the GCA received a great boost following the visit of American Grandmaster Ashley in to the country.

Maurice, a renowned author and commentator at high profile chess events and revered as the first black person in history to attain the title of grandmaster witnessed the closing rounds of the zone 4.4 Chess championships.

While in Ghana, he launched the West African Chess Academy at Spintex, and took time to conduct a chess workshop and a simultaneous exhibition, which took place at the African Regent Hotel.

At the workshop, the Grandmaster walked from table to table playing with 30 players simultaneously and did well to defeat all 30 opponents unscathed.

In an interview with the GNA Sports, he said Ashley’s presence in Ghana was to mentor up and coming chess players especially children.

Mr. Ameku said “Ashley’s visit to Ghana is the beginning of a long lasting relationship with him being the first black person to obtain the title of a Grandmaster.

“We are getting him to mentor the young and ambitious chess players in Ghana.”

He added that, Ashley serves as a living inspiration to the players who attended the workshop and that his outfit will be inviting him periodically to supervise GCA’s development program.

Notable among the participants at the Zone 4.4 Championship were Candidate Master Joseph Jamena Mensah of Ghana and Toritsemuwa Ofowino of Nigeria who all represented their countries in the zone 4.4 championships.

They together with Issah Chief were the most difficult to beat according to the grandmaster.