08 August 2005: No 44/05

TAKE NOTE

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEFENCE COLLEGE ASSOCIATION 

The South African National Defence College Association (SANDCA) will be hosting its annual Sports Day on 26 August 2005. 

The sporting activities will take place at the SA National Defence College from 07:00 and will last until late. The members of the association (who are all highly valued) are called upon to make an effort to attend the event.

All members who completed the Joint Staff Course or Executive Security Programme are also invited to attend and take part in the Sports Day.

The activities of the day will include volleyball, golf and bowling. The day will be concluded with a prize-giving and function at the Grasdak.

Members may contact Col Zirk Lourens or Lt Col Elize Lochenberg, tel (012) 674-6507/2 or 0823758850.

CHESS SECOND MOST POPULAR SPORT IN THE WORLD

Every member of the DOD/SANDF knows which is the world’s, and South Africa’s most popular sport. Its Soccer…football without a doubt. 

But did you know that CHESS is now possibly the second most popular game/sport globally? 

Well, according to an authoritative article published recently on the Internet (www.monroi.com/chess/market.php) this is the case. This source also informs us that chess is the world’s fastest growing sport, with school children playing a strong role in the field of national chess competition. 

This of course is nothing new, as may be seen from the school curriculum in the (former) Soviet Union, which continues within the Russian Federation of today; and neither age nor gender present any obstacle to the game’s participants in every continent. Which other sport can make such a claim?

Furthermore, states the article, chess-players currently represent a dedicated worldwide Internet audience estimated to number 700 million!

At an organisational level chess federations exist in nearly 150 countries around our planet, and this unique “king of games” was certified as a national sport in the RSA on 11 February 1997, and authorised officially as an Olympic sport in 1999.

In conclusion, the pursuit of chess implies superlative mental discipline, and its global “popularity” is a tribute to our human spirit.

Seeking more information? You are welcome to contact the Pretoria Military Chess Club’s (PMCC) Liaison Official, WO1 Phil Garbet, at SAAF Headquaters, Pretoria, tel: (012) 312-1152/2161.