Though Nigeria has been participating in global chess competitions for over five decades, yet a Grand Master, which is the symbol of elite mastery of the game, is yet to emerge from the country. So Ecobank is set to change this with the yearly Ecobank National Schools Team Chess Championship which ended with its third edition, penultimate Friday.
On May 8, during the six-round rapid chess competition, which featured 106 schools from across the country competing in primary and secondary school categories inside a packed hall filled with more than a thousand students, coaches, parents, and officials at the 2026 Ecobank National Schools Team Chess Championship, there was strong belief that the long wait for a Nigerian first Grand Master was finally nearing an end.
The optimism was not merely about trophies or prize money. It was about the emergence of a new generation of young players whose talent, exposure, and competitive opportunities are reshaping the future of Nigerian chess.
Leading that conversation was Vice President of the Nigeria Chess Federation, Adeyinka Adewole, who described the championship as a critical foundation for Nigeria’s grandmaster ambition.
“Nigeria has been part of the world body for over 50 years, and we have not produced a grandmaster. It is bad,” Mr Adewole said candidly after the tournament.
