By S. Siapha Mulbah
Acquire Chess-Liberia has named David Leroy Debblay as its brand influencer for 2024, following his exceptional performance during the just-ended edition of the Liberia Chess Federation National Chess Championship held recently in Monrovia.
Leroy Debblay made the shock of the moment at the event when he became the only player with nine points among twenty players that participated in the championship at the Sinkor Palace Hotel from January 14-27, 2024.
He finished in the top spot of the digital rating system at the LCF championship with nine points over former champions, Thomas Saah, who needed a draw but lost to Daniel Kolliemane, and Bobby Ballah, who had celebrated the winning spot for two years.
At the closing program of the championship, Bobby Ballah, Liberia’s back-to-back chess champion, disclosed that Acquire Chess, with its interest in growing the game across the country and giving the young generation the opportunity through chess to explore, makes the new champion the best candidate to fly the flag of the Liberian chess community worldwide.
Ballah, also coordinating Acquire Chess, announced that Champion Debblay, as the face of the institution, will showcase their working through promotional brands’ displays and awareness activities, both in Liberia and at the International Chess Federation (FIDE), World Chess World Cup in Budapest, Hungary in September of this year.
According to Ballah, Acquire Chess is an enforcement arm of the Liberia Chess Federation in implementing its priority initiatives to include the Friday Knight Jam, The National Championship, and the Chess in Education programs, among many others.
He said defending the championship as the only Liberian to have won the title two different years in a row was not possible for him because other players have seen the need to personally engage into activities that will grow their individual strength, and seeing a compatriot emerging victorious gives him more joy as a former champion.
Ballah added that efforts were exerted by him for the 2023 championship like any of the other 20 participants and Leroy’s victory says nothing else than him being the deserving man of the year throughout the mind game.
“The sessions we had together for the championship this year were to have our minds prepared for the event and give us hope to get a good position in the overall ranking at the end of everything. For me, it may not have worked, but Leroy has a result. Though I did not win, I am happy that he is a champion, that he is the newest face of chess in Liberia, judging from the exceptional performance he had with us this year in the national championship,” Ballah expressed.
For his part, David Leroy Debblay extended gratitude to the entire chess community for the role they all played to have him achieving one of his many longstanding dreams of becoming a national chess champion in the country.
He explained that the success of the 2023 national championship that brought him to the spotlight as winner, made a significant impact to the game as he will be representing the country on another occasion at the Olympiad in Budapest.
