[Source: Fiji Chess Federation/ Facebook]

International Chess Federation Director Development, Grandmaster Nigel Short who toured Fiji earlier in the week won many hearts as he spent time with players across the South Pacific including Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

Fiji Chess general secretary Goru Arvind says it’s humbling and surreal to have met a world-famous chess player whose name he had come across in books during his school days.

GM Nigel Short won more than 70 international titles across six continents to make him the only player to do it.

Short is travelling across chess playing nations in a bid by World Chess Federation to assess what is required by developing countries and assist further.

Arvind says meeting someone of Short’s calibre helped chess players in Fiji to visualize what it takes to become consistently great in what they truly love.

Members of Fiji Chess Federation exchanged ideas pertaining to development in Oceania Zone 3.6 which covers Fiji and all smaller Pacific Island countries, finance and administration for voluntary institutions in the sport, and the possibility of bringing chess to the Pacific Games once six federations are available within the next decade.