Light Reflections

 

I called an old high school friend today, I was desperate for cash so I asked him if he could buy a book from me. For only R200, judging from his social media posts, that should be nothing to him. I explained I had written a book and would be happy if he could get a copy for himself and read my story…he was all too happy to support! Support! I didn’t want to use that word. Support! This word has the ability to make me feel less sufficient as an adult! It just reminds me of my daughters and how I am unable to support them. It just reminds me of how dependent on others for support…others to support me so I could eat from time to time; like my mother buying me groceries because I cannot afford to care for myself; or my current girlfriend buying me clothes because she thinks the rags I own make me look poor. And now my old friend would be happy to support me! By buying just one copy of a book that cost me the most money I had ever held in years to get.

I hadn’t worked for money in a while. For some reason, charging people for chess lessons felt like a very desperate move on my part, so I stopped charging. You would charge what you think the lesson is worth, and people will complain and tell you what they can afford. You would argue about how all this money only covers the transport to their venue and they would argue that not a lot of kids are interested in paying for something they don’t understand; which really sounds stupid because that should be the one thing they spend on, getting to understand what they don’t understand! But winning an argument with a potential client means losing the client, or so we have been told. Thus in situations like these, for fear of diminishing the value of the game in the eyes of bystanders, I always feel it is necessary to just let everybody come attend the class for free instead of charging peanuts for lessons. And so it had been like that for years.

If you asked I would tell you it was worth it, doing it for free! It felt like I owned the process. If no one paid me, it meant that no one could tell me a thing when it comes to the quality of the lessons I gave. I was doing it for me! So when I dedicated extra hours to it, it as to prove to myself that everything I touch turns to gold! It was a dedication to prove to myself that I cannot make money, but I can make a difference! I so desperately wanted to make a difference that I forgot about the importance of money; except for the times when my mother asked if I planned to find a real job; or when my daughter called saying she missed me because she hadn’t seen me in a while; then I would have to scrape for some cash to get me to Jo’burg to see her for a few days and come back.

It didn’t matter if I ate or not on the way. I was already used to not eating. Sometimes I would spend a whole day without eating and not really knowing whether I would eat the next day or not. But I tell you, each time I got in front of these kids to talk about the pawns and the knights; the rooks and the bishops; the Kings and the Queens, I would feel as powerful as the Queens and as important as the Kings! These two or three hours where the most special hours of all my days. I just wished they would last longer, but I couldn’t keep the kids all day with me!

So that was that. To reminisce of these moments and not feel like my life was wasting away, I would write about my experiences like a sociologist involved in some crucial social research with the potential of changing the fate of rural communities. It made sense because I am of course a Sociology graduate, though I was as broke as a dropout. I wrote about my pains being this poor with so much knowledge of such valuable things; I wrote about the circumstances I found myself in and what may have led to it; my struggles with love and relationships because, who would want to be with a poor smart-ass?  I wrote down all my feelings just to keep living and feel there was meaning to all this charade. I wrote to ward off depression and anxiety especially when the nights got colder and more lonelier. I wrote to give value and meaning to these hunger pangs that seemed to have found a home in me.  I wrote until I had enough to compile a book of reflections and I called it “The Black Chronicles- Reflections from the Dark Side”

I had not felt so driven about personal achievement for a long time until that book. I was so committed to seeing it come to be! The culmination of all my education and sufferings coming to one piece of work. I found a guy who claimed he was a book publisher and he promised to make all my desires into a reality for a fee.

He charged me money I did not have; money I had never seen in a very long time, if not ever. But I was so determined and confident that the book had to come out; I was so sure it could add value to me and to others who may have the opportunity to read it.

I spoke to my younger brother and all he could spare was a thousand rands; my mother also contributed the same but two thousand rands was just too far from the target amount. I got a promotional job for a week and a few days which paid a few good thousands; but after tax, there was little good left of the thousands, so I still had around three thousand five hundred rands towards the R6500 this guy needed. That is when I called out to a good friend of mine named thabo, and without too many questions, Thabo immediately sent the R3000 to the guys account.

I felt like my life was shifting towards the right direction. I felt like my dreams were at that point validated by this grandiose gesture from this friend of mine and I felt that with such support (yes, support!) nothing was beyond my reach.

A week later, this guy whom I will now refer to as Mr. Born Great, he calls to tell me my book appears longer than expected and the printers needed extra money for the number of copies we had ordered. That was 100 copies ordered. The printers needed another R1500, he said.

That was money I did not have; money I had no way of getting. My hopes began fading. I could not go back to Thabo and undermine his great gesture by asking him for more after he had just given so much. It wouldn’t be right, morally speaking.

Everyone else, I had already tried and they had given me their reasons why they were unable to assist before, so it would be useless to go to them now with a new story hoping they change theirs. Everyone I had asked, except my girlfriend at the time. I had to swallow what little pride I had left and ask my employed girlfriend to loan me money I otherwise had no way of paying back.

I would like to pretend that this situation presented a huge paradigm shift for me but the truth is I had learned long ago that in a desperate situation, any help is good help regardless of whom it comes from. I also thought it would be unfair to not allow her the opportunity to offer me help when I needed it. However, I hated the fact that at that point I was starting to doubt the sincerity of Mr. Born Great, thinking why would he send me a quote without knowing the actual size of the book; but I quickly shut off that questioning voice because I could not convince anyone to finance a project I have doubts about.

Juliet gave me the money and Mr. Born Great was paid up. We waited for the 100 copies as promised and a serious marketing plan to get us our money back as soon as possible.

I couldn’t wait to hold the book in my hand and speak about it to anyone who would listen; Blood, Sweat and Tears beautifully packaged in an amazing golden cover designed by the extremely talented Jolene Nkuna of SerutciPhothography.

The moment came and I seized it in my hands; my life here in my hands, I thought. I felt so ashamed that I had packaged my pain in a book for anyone to read about. I just wished it would be sold somewhere far from me where no one personally knew me. But the books where here now and it was upon me to sell them. All 50 that Mr. Born Great brought instead of the 100 we agreed on. He would sell the others from his side in Pretoria and Nkomazi through his shops.

I opened the book and was struck with instant grief at the sight of the dedication page:

I dedicate this book to my late sister Beatrice Bhila as her soul c

      ontinues to rest in peace

What happened to the word “continues”? why is it broken? Mr. Born Great had no answers! I looked through the whole book and it appeared all the pages had the same problem! Words were sloppily broken stealing away the reading flow and pleasure from the reader. It was just a painful labour reading the book. It was not what anyone expects when they pay to get a book printed and certainly nothing like anyone would expect when they buy a book.

I was broken. So much money wasted printing this mistakes! Why didn’t he ask for a proof copy? Why did he not fix the mistake before going to print? Its not like he was chasing a deadline?!

I wondered how this mistake happened until I figured it out I had sent him a PDF ready to print copy which was properly aligned but he requested I send him a word document so he could do some edits. It turned out that the Word doc program I had used to type the book was not compatible with the one he was using to make the edits. In fact, there was no edit that needed his hand, he just wanted to add his name to it and claim that it was

“Published and Distributed by: Born Great Movement”

It was so disappointing that he would rather have his name on my product even if it meant compromising the quality of the product itself!

 I confronted him about it and he suggested that we try and sell the book because he was sure a lot of readers wouldn’t mind the “minor setbacks”. He promised that if it proved to be a problem, he would print fresh copies using his own money. That was the last time I spoke to him. He had since blocked my numbers and disappeared with the rest of my books and left me with these erroneous reading obstacle course!

And there I was calling this old friend for a sale and he says he would be happy to support me by buying a book. I was all too happy to hear him say these assuring words. I was so glad that R200 was coming my way just in time for my older daughter’s birthday. I would buy cake for R80 and a 2 liter soft drink for R20 or so…I’m not quite sure how much those cost, haven’t bought one in a while. The other R100 would get me 2 braai packs of chicken to hopefully last me for the month. I guess it makes sense to use the word support after all!

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The Black Chronicles and my other books are available on eBook from Amazon through the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Eddie-Bhila/e/B08F3HG71F

Hard copies can be purchased via Takealot through the link below :

The Coach Life Adventures Through Chess

https://www.takealot.com/the-coach/PLID65914423

The Coach Chess Manual

https://www.takealot.com/the-coach-chess-manual/PLID69487127

Wine and Tears

Wine and Tears

Hell I’m not drunk. Just a little tipsy to be honest. I drank so much the liquid is starting to seep through my eyes. Maybe I am a little emotional tonight. I get like that when I drink alone. It’s a sad experience really; I guess the true danger of alcohol that they don’t put on the labels: reduces driving ability but could also drive you insane if you drink it alone.

Why am I drinking alone when I have such a big family? My kids are grown now, I should be drinking and talking to them about life and love. But none of them are with me. All with their mothers, it’s sad. I swore I would never be like my father, but what the hell did I know swearing on things I had little control over?! We are all product of the same system: fathers go away in search of money believing families need money to survive; you cannot live on love, they say. Well it appears generations will suffer for lack of love as a result of such shallow beliefs. They love their work for sure; spending so much time on it could make it your life. Hell my grandfather spent so much time at his work he ended up never coming back home till he died…in the gold mines!

My father worked Monday to Monday, sunrise till sunset. The only time you ever saw him was when he was tired and about to rest…right after he finished drinking his beer. Makes you wonder where in the world he got the time to make 27 children with 7 different women! I guess you do make time for the things you do love after all. I’d be a little different if I got a little bit of love from him, probably.

Yet now I’m grown and trying to start a new family every so often…and always seem to be failing. I’m like a checkers player trying to play a chess game! I don’t know how to do this; and maybe all these women I am attracted to have the same problem too. We are trying to build a family when we ourselves are products of broken families; hell the only prototype of a family that we have is filled with hate; anger and a whole lot of fear!!

I read there was a great man that once said “if you love your children, get a business, not a job”. Hopefully a business would not steal you from your family; hell it will allow you to take your kids with you to work and maybe one day it will become theirs. Now all this time my father spent on his work could be something we all share if it was spent on his own business.

But then again, what do I know, right? We are all products of the same system. Maybe he also tried, and failed. Just like I keep trying and still failing. Now my biggest fear is never being able to love my children, and they grow up to be just as loveless as I am: hell it’s hard to expect that their mothers give them the love I cannot give to them. I happen to believe mothers need love for them to be able to pass it on to the children, otherwise they get drained of the little they have and get bitter; then the kids will suffer the wrath. Crazy ideas I have really, it must be the wine. But truth is I have seen something that makes me say this; see when the mother is abused by the father, they pass the abuse on to the child. And similarly if the mother is loved by the father, they pass on the love to the child: physically abused mothers physically abuse their own children; emotionally abused mothers emotionally abuse their children! I’m starting to sound like a professional of sorts, huh! Red wine will do that to you; make you feel smarter than you actually are. Well I do have a little bit of education but it still does not qualify me to make such assertions. Just my fears really; my personal worries.

What if I end up alone; with my seed spread widely across the country and yet I am here, alone; drinking myself to sleep countless nights in a row. Drinking oneself to sleep is no different from crying yourself to sleep. Ask me I know. You wake up with the sadness still lingering waiting for night to fall, and you are alone again; then thoughts start flooding back one by one.

How did I mess it up with baby mama number two; we were both grown and ready to be responsible, but what went wrong? Was I too impatient with her and failed to understand that she still had a role to play in her mother’s house? Maybe it was her fault; she was trying to be something to everybody; a good sister, a good friend, a good employee, a good daughter, a good neighbour, a good colleague, a good aunt, a good niece and even a good acquaintance to some. I know she was a good mother too but I did not feel she was a good lover. She divided up her time so much there was too little left for me. Maybe I was too demanding; maybe the problem was I needed too much of her time and expected that she let go of some of her roles to make time for me and our child; give us a chance to be a family. But what do we know about family, right?

I remember once she asked; “if I don’t go to work this weekend as you ask, will you be able to give me the money I stand to make working weekend? I didn’t think so!” 

She was right, I did not have that money, but I also didn’t think I needed to buy her time. Well as she made it clear, I could not afford her time. I guess that made me feel like I was not man enough. It ended. I got tired of being made to feel like less of a man; whatever that means. Hell I don’t even know what it means to be a man!

Maybe number three would have worked out if I was not trying to balance out 1 and 2 while I was with her. I kept trying to keep contact with both children and their mothers while she was pregnant and sometimes the phone would ring while she was trying to speak to me about her worries especially being so close to giving birth. I know she felt the birth of our child was not as special for me as it was for her; this being her first and for me only the third. After she gave birth to our daughter, this being my third daughter, she felt there was no reason to continue our relationship.

She claims she saw it in my face that I wasn’t so excited. And maybe if it was a boy like the doctor thought it would be, I would have been happier and our relationship would have a chance but nah! I think she got pregnant too quick; before she had a good grasp of my situation.

Well now baby number four was a boy…that too did not survive. Well I have been drinking ever since. Whoever thinks I have a drinking problem is not looking deep enough; that’s like saying the person who cries themselves to sleep has a crying problem. I do have a problem and drinking only helps me manage it. I know it won’t go away, whether I feed it wine or not. If you ask me what problem I have, I would tell you I have a love problem; coming from a system that did not allow me to get love and ultimately unable to give it. One day I will get it right, but till then I’ll just keep drinking myself to sleep while trying to drive the tears away.

                                                                                                                                                Written by Eddie Bhila

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Chess Thrives under Lock-down!

With the outbreak of the Corona Virus at its height and many countries across the world under strict lock-down for fear of the spread of the virus, sporting activities are at their lowest and many sporting codes are suffering the effects. Chess however is one of the few, if not the only sport that can survive in its truest nature through the lock-down. By this I mean chess players can play a proper game of chess in spite of the lock-down restrictions and feel all the pleasures of winning; the pains of losing and the anxiety associated with the anticipation of your opponents next move and the hopes that he/she misses your punishable blunder. The same cannot be said of other sports when forced to be moved to other platforms.

This is an article about the different forms of online chess and how each of them can be utilised in these tough times.

Chess has always been a sport appreciated by a few and mastered by even fewer mortals. Chess players have always been on demand. Skilled chess players always had a difficulty meeting in person with players who are on a playing level that allowed them to play intense and seriously challenging games; the only pleasurable kind. This is why chess players are such a close-knit group connected by this beautiful game. When a chess player meets a formidable opponent, they try to keep contact with them for as long as the game is good. This has led to the advent of a long distance format of chess play known as correspondence Chess. Correspondence chess was initially played by post where each player would send their move in response to their opponents move via the post mailing system. People would get old playing one game together but each move sent or received brought its own unique brightness to the day of the player.

Each player would set-up a board in their table at home (or in a public place if they had spectators). The first player would make the first move then write the co-ordinates on a piece of paper (for example e4 which means that a pawn has been moved to the square on the forth rank of the E-file). This piece of paper would be posted to the opponent in a different country or region who would also be having their own board setup. Upon receipt of the post, they would make the move on the board then sit looking at the board and think of an appropriate response to e4. They would decide on the move, make the move on their board then write in down on a piece of paper to post. Such games would last for weeks, months and even years depending on the pace of play and the time it took for the post to get from one player to the other.

 With the inventions of telephones, correspondence chess became much faster. Players would setup their boards in their respective homes or public places then make a phone call to the opponent letting them know what move they had made. Then after came emails and moves could be electronically mailed to opponents almost immediately and the best thing about it was that records could be retained for longer periods in the mailbox. This has been the evolution over time of the correspondence chess. Nowadays people can play correspondence setup via social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and other media.

Nhlanhla "Jumbo" Tsela playing correspondence chess against yours truly via Facebook messenger

With the improvement of technology overtime, chess players seem to be the ones who have benefited the most from technological progress. Today we have so many platforms that allow players to play a live game of chess with opponents from different countries. Such platforms allow both player to look at the same board and witness their opponent’s move as it is made in real time. The beauty of such platforms is that they allow spectators to watch the games also in real time from the comfort of their homes and witness as their favourite players trick their opponents through tactical play and cheer them on in the comments sections.

Fide Master and National Chess Champion Banele Mhango playing an Online Chess Tournament

Live chess has made it possible for players to choose between different time formats of play depending on whether they would like instant pain/gratification or delayed pain/gratification. We have quick play formats for the players with speed and accuracy. These formats are for players who have learned their lines and depend mostly on instincts to respond to threats during a game as the formats hardly afford players any thinking time. These are formats such as Bullet time format which is anytime control less than 3 minutes per player. In such formats, players would give each other two minutes to complete their moves. This means that in a two-minute bullet time control, a game of chess could be finished in less than four minutes and the first player to run down his/her clock loses the game. There is the most popular option of playing blitz games which are time controls of between three minutes and ten minutes. This is where players learn the importance of being decisive and committed as there is no chance to doubt and second guess your moves.

There is also the option of rapid play which affords players some thinking time, though no too much of it. These are the time controls of above ten minutes and less than 30 minutes per player. This means that a rapid game has to be completed within an hour.

And for those that would still like to practice patience and do proper calculations before making their moves, we have the classical time format which is anything above 30 minutes up to as many as 12 hours per game. This is a true test of skill and mental endurance as a game hardly ever ends on time; players lose the game before they run out of time

Juliet Mathebula playing a game of rapid Chess on her cellphone while doing some essentials shopping

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The online chess platforms present a real development opportunity for those that would like to improve their game by playing stronger players who could challenge them out of their comfort zones; or by watching stronger players battling out their best ideas. This is also great for people who would like to learn how to play the game of chess as most platforms also have lessons available for beginners who would like to master the basics for free.

Lindokuhle Bhila doing some Chess puzzles on Lichess.org

In this period of social-distancing, where personal contact is discouraged and social life seem impossible, the online chess platform offers a community that is rich in entertainment, full of the complexities of life that involve losses and gains; pleasures and pains. And the great thing about it is you can track your development through rating points that you accumulate with every game won, and reduce with every game lost.

So if you are a sport-lover and enjoy watching as actual sweat and blood falls out of the faces of superior beings as they battle for dominance, Chess is your sport to follow right now and Online is the platform which offers it raw and unfiltered!

P.S, if you are interested in sponsoring and hosting an Online Chess tournament for your club, school team or one that is open to all chess players in the country, chat to me via WhatsApp and we could organise something. 

My number is 0715814519

Learn, Play, Compete and Thrive

The Coach Chess Academy

By. Eddie Bhila

author of The Coach Life Adventures Through Chess and The Coach Chess Manual

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Journey Towards "The Coach Chess Academy"

My Business Journey

                                                                                               By Phumlani Eddy Bhila

My name is Eddie. I run a Chess Academy called The Coach Chess Academy. We aim to make Chess more visible and accessible to all who are interested in this game of strategies. In this essay I will share with you how I became exposed to Chess and why I thought it would make a great business idea. In essence, I will share with you what problems I believe my business is solving. I will share with you my journey in this Chess business.

I grew up in Msogwaba, an area that was once referred to as one of the most dangerous places in South Africa by then President of the Country Mr. Thabo Mbeki. I grew up in a time when my uncles where some of the most wanted criminals in the country and any adult male in the community was either a robber, a murderer or a nobody! It was inevitable that our role models as boys where the fearless criminals who seemed to have everything they wanted. 

We grew older as boys playing “guns and robbers”, pretend-drinking and smoking, mimicking our superheroes. It’s not like we had any more options as far as recreational activities where concerned, especially since we were either not old enough or not good enough to join the local soccer team. Well you guessed it, soccer was the only sport available in the community.

As we grew older, some of our peers took an early initiation into the life of night-time-hustling while some of us stayed on the “righteous path”. I was fortunate enough to make it to tertiary and have a change in environment which offered a new perspective on life.

While in University I met this friend, a girl, who liked so much to talk about Chess and I always felt embarrassed to say “I have no idea what that is” so I always pretended I had no care in discussing useless board games that had no relevance to my situation. My situation was that of a student struggling to stay up at night studying large volumes of works and still having to wake early mornings to attend classes. In attempt to convince me that there is value in this Chess game of hers, she claimed “well, Chess helps build mental endurance which will help you study for longer without getting tired too quickly”.

Eddie Bhila (The Coach, The Author)

Eventually I allowed myself to be taught by this girl how to play Chess and it was nothing like I had expected it to be. Of course it looked boring to watch; but the feeling when you are in the game playing, is nothing like anything I had ever felt. The feeling of both fear and excitement simultaneously aroused by the anticipation of your opponent’s next move; the constant surge of emotions as you wonder if your opponents next move might end the game before you have the chance to play your killer move; the continuous calculations of “if she plays there, I will play there and then she will play this piece here and I will have a chance to play here and finish the game. But what if she plays here instead of there and I will have no chance to escape the attack and lose?”. This is the type of unsurpassed mental stimulation that is offered by the game of Chess. The opportunity to come up with a winning strategy, try it out on the board and experience the results first-hand. If the strategy fails, you feel it instantly and it hurts. You deal with the pain and immediately attempt to modify your strategy and make some improvements then get a chance to try it out again. If it works, the feeling of insurmountable pleasure just takes over your brain and you are the happiest person on earth for that moment. This mental stimulation is believed to be what makes Chess so addictive.

I played Chess since then experiencing many defeats and victories; the defeats made me start reading Chess books and learn about chess principles; the victories made me feel like I could teach someone else how to play and pay it forward.

After completing my studies, I was back home after having disappeared for a few years hardly ever visiting on holidays. I had a single Chess board and planned to teach a few of my old friends this ‘mysterious strategic thinking game’ that I had brought from Gauteng. I asked about my one friend, Pinto, the smartest young man I had ever known personally. This boy created a radio using metal scraps and old batteries he picked up from rubbish pits. This boy made a helicopter for his Primary School Science project and it could actually fly. I remember promising him that we would work together when we grow up and my role would be to get funding for his designs and we would get rich the right way.

When I asked where Pinto was, I was told he had been killed in a shoot-out with the police just a few months back. He had been a wanted ‘criminal’ for a while for a murder he had allegedly committed. It had been alleged that he had shot and killed the man who had murdered his mother. Our dream died with him and a community lost out on a potential positive role model. I proceeded to ask about other friends and found that some had been in prison doing time for multiple robberies and other crimes. Those that were not in prison were either walking around in dirty rags hardly recognizable while picking up scraps or begging for change (the wrong kind!). of course there were those that looked like they still had it under control; drinking expensive alcohol any day of the week, dressed in expensive looking clothes and yet no one would say how they made their money. Those were the role models.

After seeing the impact of having these kinds of role models in our community, I decided to commit myself to the mission of creating positive role models that the community would be proud of. I decided I was going to introduce the young people of Msogwaba to this powerful game of Chess. It was my hope that the lessons they would learn over the Chess board would be extrapolated to their circumstances in life. You think before you make a move! You consider the consequences of each move before you make it, then decide if you are willing to live with them. You do not play a game without a plan, a strategy. Each move you make must be leading you closer to your goal, in line with your strategy. That is Chess, and I was sure the kids in Msogwaba needed it more than it needed them.

I visited Msogwaba Primary school where I had gone as a kid and asked Principal Mathebula if I could be allowed to impart the skill of Chess to the kids in her school. She welcomed me with open arms. The kids also welcomed the new sport which presented them an alternative to the usual soccer. Unfortunately, I only had one board and could only teach a few at a time so some had to be side-lined. In about three months of training, the kids seem like they already knew what they were doing. Chess almost seemed natural to them. I tried to find out about Chess competitions for them to compete in and discovered there was a local federation that held tournaments every month. Though the entry fees were too expensive, we thought we should at least try out and see if the kids could actually handle the pressure of playing in a formal setting. The school agreed to pay for a few of them and I created an internal competition to select the best to represent us.

We hired a taxi and took ten kids to a chess tournament. The tournament grouped them according to their age groups and we had three kids playing under 10, five under 12 and two under 14. We won a gold medal in the under 10, a gold medal under 12 and a bronze medal under 14. This was quite assuring. Our team was entered in the National Schools’ team Chess Championship in 2014. We won the sub-regional, we won the regionals and eventually won the provincials to become the Provincial Schools Teams Chess Champions. This meant that we had the opportunity to represent the province in the National Schools Teams Chess Championship in Pretoria.

The personal impact of all these results in the kids was something special; their confidence levels improved significantly. They could finally look you in the eye when you talk; they could speak up with confidence now and raise rational concerns with substantial reasons. Even the conversations with them where finally interesting, they had substance and spoke about relevant issues. They could analyse the news; question information and make up their minds about their own views. The transformation was amazing. I had experienced first-hand what Chess can do to a child’s mental development and I planned to provide that opportunity to every child in my reach.

Lindokuhle Bhila Mpumalanga Schools Chess Champion 2015 to 2019
SAJCC National WildCard Chess Champion 2016

Maybe I have to state that we never won the National Championship but we did put up an impressive fight. However, some of the players in the team went on to win Individual National Chess Championships. Some of them even had the opportunity to play for Team South Africa in international Chess Championships in Sri Lanka, Egypt, Turkey, Kenya and other countries, all carrying the name of Msogwaba in positive light. One of the proudest moments was when the Mpumalanga Sports Star of the Year was announced and it happened to be one of the kids in my team. That’s when I felt that we had done it. The Mpumalanga Sports Star of the Year 2019 comes from Msogwaba and I had everything to do with it! We had created positive role models for our communities, people that our kids can look up to and try to emulate. Not only that, two of our players are now at University pursuing their Bachelors degrees while a few others are in Matric aiming to surpass the high standard set by their team mates before them.

From left: Simphiwe Mbuyane, Banele Mhango, Eddie Bhila, Adolph Nkosi

Now back to why I believe this Chess interest would make a great business idea. I have read somewhere that entrepreneurship should be about making positive social impact. I have also learned that the best entrepreneurs are the ones who are able to turn their passions into profit. I am passionate about social development and I believe Chess provides the most necessary development in any society, and that is the development of the youths’ mental capacity.

I have considered that if I continue doing Chess coaching as a charity or a pass-time hobby, I would likely lose my drive when suddenly I have to prioritize my time for things that pay the bills. This would compromise the quality of the lessons and the quality of the players I produce. The one thing that impacts the learners more than the information I provide, is the passion with which I deliver the information. I cannot afford to lose that. Plus, I have a vision of creating the biggest Chess League in the Province with the best prizes for the Champions and runner-ups. This is not something one can do as a hobby. I aim to make Chess one of the most rewarding sports in the province, especially since the best Chess Players in the province are my own students. The Coach Chess Academy will be a name synonymous to Chess excellence in Mpumalanga, and that is a promise!

P.S, now that I think about it, Chess did need the Kids in Msogwaba just as much as they needed it. They managed to popularize the game in the Province. The Mpumalanga Sports star of the Year is a Chess Player for crying out loud! What more could Chess ask for? National Sports Star of the Year? Coming right up!

Mpumalanga Sports Star of the year (2019) FM Banele Mhango
SAJCCC National Chess Champion 2018-2019 

 If you are interested in reading our story extensively, purchase a copy of my book titled: The Coach~ Life Adventures Through Chess available on takealot.com through the link below:

https://www.takealot.com/the-coach/PLID65914423

We also have a Chess Manual published on takealot to help you learn how to play Chess from anywhere in the country

https://www.takealot.com/the-coach-chess-manual/PLID69487127

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