Story submitted by Seth Talyansky, email talyanskys@catlin.edu.
We, the leaders of the Catlin Gabel Chess Club, investigated the circumstances of chess in Equatorial Guinea (EG), the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, as a project for Spanish class. After Seth’s saga of efforts to connect us with people in EG, which we recount in an article for the July issue of the Northwest Chess magazine, we received a message from Mr. Federico Ele Rano, a passionate advocate for chess in Equatorial Guinea. According to him, the chess players in the country number two dozen, none FIDE-rated. The first “semi-professional” tournament in Equatorial Guinean history was held recently in Malabo, the capital. Federico is looking to establish both scholastic and general competitive chess in EG. In particular, he is seeking help with acquiring chess materials. We’re fundraising for sets, clocks, and books for donation to EG. We have created an online GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/chess-supplies-to-equatorial-guinea.
Please see the July issue of NWC (when available) and/or the linked page for more information.