The second African Chess Championship is set to be hosted in Botswana, an event that will see countries bringing in their best Chess gems.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the President of the Botswana Chess Federation (BCF), Tshepo Sitale, noted that “hosting the 2010 ACC is a historic event for Botswana because it is the second country in Africa after South Africa to host the event.
The competition started last year and was hosted by South Africa in Cape Town.
“We are also humbled that FIDE (World Chess mother body) trusted that we can host this event,” he said, adding that with the coming of this event to Botswana, BCF hopes people will embrace chess.┬á
Sitale said that out of the 15 active Chess Federations in Africa, 9 countries are coming for the championship. These consist of Botswana, Libya, Tunisia, South Africa, Somalia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Madagascar.
Eighty four players have confirmed their attendance with South Africa having the 2nd largest delegation with 23 players, behind Botswana with 30 players.
Sitale said that the event is partly sponsored by the World Chess Body, FIDE, whilst the Turkish Chess Federation sponsored with all the equipment to be used to the value of P50, 000. The BNSC is also sponsoring in kind.
Sitale, however, noted that BCF is still waiting for some companies to come on board. 
The Championship is expected to commence on the 21st, ending on 28th August 2010. Players and officials will be arriving on the 20th August and will depart on 29th August.
Prior to the event, the Botswana Chess Federation will hold Africa Arbiters Seminar, which is training chess referees from Zambia, Somalia, Uganda and Botswana.
Botswana has previously hosted the Africa Junior Individual Tournament, which does not have as many participants as the Africa Youth Chess Championships.
“We hope that with the success of the event, we will have the confidence to bid for bigger events,” he said, adding that the winners of this event will proceed to play at the World Youth Chess Championships that will be played in Greece in October 2010.
