Cape Town - Kenny Solomon says he was once on the “wrong track”, but after becoming South Africa’s first chess Grandmaster, he is aiming to inspire youngsters to heed some of his life lessons for a better future.
Solomon was invited to Parliament on Tuesday to interact with its Chess Club, with a number of young chess players from the city also in attendance.
President Jacob Zuma is an enthusiastic chess player and has previously stated that the sport could assist children with their school work as it requires great concentration and strong decision-making ability.
“I have been on the wrong track, but thanks to chess playing I got on the right track,” said Solomon, 35.
It was not sufficient to think in terms of winning the next tournament, but to identify long-term goals such as studying different strategies, he said.
It was chess that helped Solomon escape gang culture and provided him with a career away from poverty and underdevelopment.
Growing up in Mitchells Plain, it was his older brother Maxwell who introduced him to the world of tactics, concentration and logic.
At the age of 13, Solomon taught himself how to play and only one year later, in 1993, he started competing at the Western Province trials.
“The moment I opened a chess book for the first time I was fascinated by the sport, its renowned players and their strategies.”
Solomon is able to look back on a brilliant career. He won the South African Closed once, in 2003, became an international master one year later, and triumphed in the South African Open in 1999, 2005 and 2007.
During the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul in 2012, the Capetonian earned his final Grandmaster norm.
Yet Solomon still had to face two years of difficult moments and bad results.
“I could have given up, but I never did. Chess is an educational process, I always focus on what I can improve next,” explained Solomon.
“When I heard that the winner of the Africa Chess Championship in December 2014 will obtain the Grandmaster title, I was ready.”
He studied his opponent’s weaknesses and strengths for 10 days to find the best possible opening move. After 22 years of perfecting his art and winning the tournament at the end of last year, world chess organisation Fide honoured Solomon with the Grandmaster title.
Currently, he is ranked third in the country and second in sub-Saharan Africa.
Since 2005, Solomon has been active as a Fide trainer and has coached many top players in the country. Today he lives with his wife and daughter in Venice.
“You have to match your dream with hard work to be successful,” South Africa’s most prosperous chess player said.
Cape Times