ACC General Assembly takes place in Addis Ababa; Benard Wanjala elected President
The 10th African Chess Confederation (ACC) Electoral General Assembly took place today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where delegates from across the continent elected new leadership for the organization. Following a closely contested election for the presidency, the candidates received the following votes: Benard Wanjala (Kenya) – 25 votes Tshepiso Lopang (Botswana) – 24 votes Consequently, Benard Wanjala was elected President of the African Chess Confederation. The newly elected ACC leadership is as follows: President: Benard Wanjala (Kenya) Deputy President: Mohamed Abdulla Mohamed (Somalia) Vice President – Administration: Barthelemy Bongo Akanga Ndjila (Gabon) Vice President – Technical: Andre Lewaks (South Africa) Vice President – Region A: Christiana Naa Merley Ashley (Ghana) Vice President – Region B: Chouari Wajdi (Tunisia) Vice President – Region C: Mario Lourenço (Angola) Secretary General: Otto Nakapunda (Namibia) Treasurer: Kouassi Nguessan Justin Brou (Côte d’Ivoire) FIDE congratulates Benard Wanjala and the newly elected African Chess Confederation leadership and wishes them every success in advancing chess across the continent. FIDE looks forward to continuing its close cooperation with the ACC to promote the development of chess throughout Africa.
FIDE Chess in Education Commission (EDU) courses July–September 2026
Dear Chess Friends, FIDE’s Chess in Education Commission continues to accelerate its provision of training for Lecturers and Teachers of Educational Chess, offering a series of high-level online and in-person opportunities in summer and autumn 2026. The Preparation of Lecturers (PoL) course leads to the FIDE titles of Lead School Instructor (LSI) and Senior Lead Instructor (SLI). It is intended primarily for those who will train teachers, helping to expand the global community of educators capable of teaching chess in an educational way. The Preparation of Teachers (PoT) course leads to the FIDE title of School Instructor (SI). This 3-day (15-hour) training equips participants with pedagogical methods, digital tools, and practical strategies for teaching chess as an educational tool. Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive exclusive lifelong benefits, including: Lifelong access to the Opening Master Premium chess database, featuring over 10 million official over-the-board human games Access to the Chesspertise Platform, integrating database search, analysis, training, and coaching tools in one unified environment The FIDE Teachers Chess Curriculum, a valuable lifelong teaching resource to support and enhance work in chess education The schedule of the FIDE EDU upcoming courses is below: To join, please register via the following links: Preparation of Teachers (POT) online course for the Americas and other Western countries – July 31 – August 2Register: https://cloud.fide.com/s/qrrnyMHRKCaTTgH Preparation of Teachers (POT) online course for Ghana –August 6-9Register: https://shorturl.at/R1i7e Preparation of Teachers (POT) online course in Spanish for women – August 7-9Register: https://cloud.fide.com/s/JqpkeaaPYLPY7rP 40th Preparation of Teachers (POT) online course for the FIDE School Instructor (SI) title – August 14-16 Register: https://cloud.fide.com/s/nYbZzXNwo4E5Wax 41st Preparation of Teachers (POT) online course for the FIDE School Instructor (SI) title – September 4-6 Register: https://cloud.fide.com/f/920847 Our dedicated Chess in Education website has further details: edu.fide.com/