During her official visit to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dana Reizniece, Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board, held a series of meetings with government officials and representatives from the education and sports sectors to discuss the development and promotion of chess in the country.
In a meeting with Didier Budimbu, Minister of Sports and Recreation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board emphasized the importance of supporting the National Chess Championship to ensure that players from all regions of the country have the opportunity to participate. Such support would help identify the strongest players and enable the formation of a competitive national team to represent the country at the Chess Olympiad. The Minister expressed his support for this initiative.
Discussions also focused on the introduction of chess in schools, an initiative that received positive feedback from the Ministry.
During a meeting with Theodore Kazadi Muayila, Deputy Minister of National Education and New Citizenship of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, several important projects were discussed, including:
- Potential financing for the introduction of chess in approximately 200 schools, aligned with the educational priorities of UNICEF;
- The preparation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which the International Chess Federation would support teacher training and provide educational resources for the implementation of chess in schools;
- An invitation for representatives of the Ministry to visit Uzbekistan to learn from its successful experience in integrating chess into the national education system.
As part of the visit, Dana Reizniece also visited Maarif School in Kinshasa, where she met with students and educators and discussed the role of chess in education, critical thinking development, and youth empowerment.
In addition, Dana Reizniece gave a simultaneous exhibition organised in her honour at the headquarters of the Gombe Chess Club. Around fifteen players took part in the event, including four women, all eager to challenge the visiting Woman Grandmaster.
Among the participants, Josué Kanda distinguished himself as the only player to defeat Dana Reizniece. Christophe Binana also achieved a notable result by securing a draw. Both players are winners of the most recent National Chess Championship, highlighting the growing strength and talent of chess players in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.