{"id":151935,"date":"2025-05-23T13:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T11:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/?p=151935"},"modified":"2025-05-23T08:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T06:25:09","slug":"chess-prodigy-bulelani-dreams-grandmaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/sport\/chess-prodigy-bulelani-dreams-grandmaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Chess Prodigy Bulelani Gets Closer to Realising His Dreams Of Becoming a Grandmaster!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What began as a childhood pastime at the tender age of four has been groomed into a competitive passion for Bulelani Stephen, propelling him to become a professional chess player who is set to make SA very proud.<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Johannesburg, South Africa (23 May 2025)<\/em> &#8211; Chess is a game of patience, calculation, pattern recognition, identifying strategic patterns and making sound choices under pressure, often with limited time. It&#8217;s not for everyone, but for 16-year-old Bulelani Stephen, it is <em>everything<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p>He started chess as a leisure sport when he was just four years old, before falling into a competitively driven love with it and has since worked his way up to becoming a professional chess player.<\/p>\n<p>With the help of his school, chess coaches, parents and siblings, chess is no longer just a fun pass time for the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/prestigecol\/posts\/1203142521814785\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prestige College learner<\/a>, it is a lifestyle and a career he is steadily pursuing.<\/p>\n<p>This driven board master has obtained national colours since he was 14. He has now, after an impressive run at the South African Junior Closed Chess Championship in Cape Town last month, been presented with the opportunities to represent South Africa this year at the Fide World Cadet Chess Championship, the African Youth Chess Championship and the Commonwealth Chess Championship.<\/p>\n<p>These global chess tournaments are more than just competitions for Bulelani, they are crucial steps toward his ultimate goal of becoming an International Chess Grandmaster\u00a0someday.<\/p>\n<p>However, one hurdle stands in his way.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u201cI have to sponsor myself financially for all these events and cannot do it without your help,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>To help fund his audacious chess dreams, Bulelani has launched a BackaBuddy campaign, appealing for support to help him seize these life-changing opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>To support his ascent in the world of chess, visit Bulelani&#8217;s crowdfunding page <a href=\"https:\/\/www.backabuddy.co.za\/campaign\/international-chess-tournaments-qualifier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h6><em>Sources: BackaBuddy<\/em><\/h6>\n<h6><em>Don\u2019t ever miss the Good Things. Download the Good Things Guy App now on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/good-things-guy-news\/id1485106885\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.goodthingsguy.app\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n<h6><em>Do you have something to add to this story? Please share it in the comments or follow GoodThingsGuy on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/goodthingsguy\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0&amp;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/goodthingsguy\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0to keep up to date with good news as it happens, or share your good news with us by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/submit-a-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clicking here\u00a0<\/a>or click the link below to listen to the Good Things Guy Podcast with Brent Lindeque \u2013 South Africa\u2019s very own\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Good Things Guy<\/a>. He\u2019s on a mission to change what the world pays attention to, and he truly believes there\u2019s good news around us. In the Good Things Guy podcast, you\u2019ll meet these everyday heroes &amp; hear their incredible stories:<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/iframe.iono.fm\/c\/6977?layout=modern\" width=\"100%\" height=\"535\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h6><em>Or watch an episode of Good Things TV below, a show created to offer South Africans balance in a world with what feels like constant bad news. We\u2019re here to remind you that there are still so many good things happening in South Africa &amp; we\u2019ll leave you feeling a little more proudly South African.<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Best News of the Week: 5 Stories That\u2019ll Make You Smile!\" width=\"810\" height=\"456\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VI8TZhHHcEM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What began as a childhood pastime at the tender age of four has been groomed into a competitive passion for Bulelani Stephen, propelling him to become a professional chess player&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":151961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[312],"tags":[200,86,503,59,2840,732,3804,104,12,11,190,23,33,8,206,254,110,7,127],"class_list":["post-151935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-awesomesa","tag-awesome","tag-backabuddy","tag-change-one-thing","tag-checked","tag-chess","tag-chess-sa","tag-do-good","tag-dont-miss","tag-featured","tag-good-news","tag-inspiration","tag-johannesburg","tag-south-afri-can","tag-south-africa","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-the-good-stuff","tag-wow"],"featured_image_urls":{"medium":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulelani-1-300x213.jpg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulelani-1-150x150.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.goodthingsguy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/bulelani-1-768x544.jpg"},"appp_media":null,"yoast_head":"<!-- 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