Thug Life Army

International chess icon Josh Waitzkin has joined the rank of stars scheduled to appear at the Hip Hop, Chess & Life Strategies Exhibition on May 19, 2007 at the Omega Boys Club located at 1060 Tennessee St. in San Francisco, California.

The Hip Hop, Chess & Life Strategies Exhibition, organized by the Hip Hop Chess Federation founders Adisa Banjoko and Leo Librian, teams up rappers, martial artists, athletes and other stars in a head-to-head intellectual battle in a fun and safe environment.  “Our purpose is to encourage young people across the country to infuse their artistic and physical gifts with chess tactics and strategies to enrich their lives for years to come” stated co-founder Adisa Banjoko, “after spending nearly 3 years defining our goals and vision we are so honored to announce Josh’s participation with our organization”.

Josh Waitzkin recently authored, The Art of Learning, a breakthrough book on how to cultivate mind and body. Waitzkin burst into the chess world as a child in the mid 1980’s. His journey to winning his first National Chess Championship was captured in the film Searching for Bobby Fischer. Since then he has gone on to become eight-time National Chess Champion, a World Champion of Tai Chi Chuan Push Hands and a student of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Mr. Waitzkin is the author of Attacking Chess and is developer and spokesperson for Chessmaster, the biggest computer chess program in the world.

“I look forward to coming to San Francisco and participating in the Hip Hop, Chess & Life Strategies Exhibition,” stated Josh Waitzkin. “I believe that positive aspects of Hip Hop, chess and martial arts can effectively empower young American minds.”

Co-founder of the Hip-Hip Chess Federation Leo Libiran stated, “To have Josh Waitzkin at our tournament is like having Michal Jordan participate in your three on three. It is like having Al Capone get down at your gangster convention! We are grateful to Mr. Watizkin, The Omega Boys Club of San Francisco and all of the artists involved for supporting our goal of promoting chess to American youth. We expect a very strong turnout, but we are still in need of sponsorships. We invite any philanthropic donations available. ”

Other participants in Hip-Hop, Chess & Life Strategies Exhibition include award winning film director Kevin Epps, DJ QBert and countless others.  The Hip Hop Chess Federation is currently in negotiations to secure rap artist RZA of the hip hop group Wu-Tang and UFC Champion Referee Herb Dean for the May 19 event.

For more information visit: www.myspace.com/hiphopchess