Home Interview Inside the Mind of Kassa Korley: The Visionary Behind Chess.com’s Next Gen Cup

Inside the Mind of Kassa Korley: The Visionary Behind Chess.com’s Next Gen Cup

by Ogunsiku Babatunde
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The world of chess is constantly evolving, and few understand this better than Kassa Korley, an International Master with a deep passion for fostering the next generation of talents with African roots. As the main organizer of The Next Gen Cup, Kassa is not just shaping a tournament — he is shaping the future of the game itself. In an exclusive interview, he shares the inspiration behind this groundbreaking event, the challenges faced by young and budding Chess players, as well as his vision for the next wave of young chess stars.

Kindly introduce yourself.

I am a 31 year old International Master with two (2) Grandmaster norms, who played quite seriously into my late twenties, but it is so much harder to realize your chess aims past adolescence/when you are an adult, because the demands of life can get in the way — in other words it is critical that young talents are recognized, fostered, and supported in those early years. This event is a small way of helping to contribute to that effort/conversation of elevating black talent that are not well known — and perhaps folks watching/supporting the event will consider giving a look to these players and/or support initiatives like this in the future. At Chess.com, I am the Director of Professional Relations and one of the leaders of the Fair Play Team — in short, I work to strengthen the titled player experience on Chess.com and I adjudicate high profile cases of cheating. Never a dull day!

Kindly talk us through the foundation of The Next Gen Cup.

The event is called the Next Gen Cup because we want to inspire the next generation of talents — you never know who is watching, and when you see people that look like you doing great things, it is inspiring, because you reconsider what you are capable of and try to give your best at becoming the best.So, when we got a benefactor, who was magnanimous enough to provide the prize funds, I knew what I wanted to do: Give some Black Chess Players an Opportunity to Be Seen! and hopefully create a ripple effect that will turn the tides.

Tersee Ferdinand Nyuima – 17 year old Nigeria’s National Chess Champion

Do you have any plans for the winner of the event?

Truth is, currently, we just want to host this, see the reception and see the acceptance. Once we have a good following of the event and the players putting up a good show, it might be the start of something. However, I can’t say at this time, that this is how it will go. I just want to give black chess players the opportunity to show the world that there are a lot of untapped talents from across the globe.

What is the future of The Next Gen Cup?

As I mentioned earlier, I can’t say this is the future or that is the future. Presenting this opportunity to play is one thing I wanted to achieve. I originally wanted this to be an over the board (OTB) event, but the cost implication in flying people over from different parts of the world presented an obstacle that we decided not to tackle. However, having the event online would ensure that we are not spending more than we should, and ensure that each participant gets something good at the end of the day.

The Prize Distribution for The Next Gen Cup!

How did you decide on the participants and how can other African players hope to get called up?

Yeah, so we have various online events that people can get noticed through. The titled Tuesday, early and main event, the Freestyle Friday, the untitled version of both events, among others. I am involved in all these events and I will always notice someone that stands out.

At the same time, We also consulted with individuals that are intimately familiar with talents that are out there, to cultivate a nice multi-generational field, Dr Daaim Shabazz, yourself – Babatunde, and we got a few information from others too. Also, I wanted a mix of the past, present and the future. That is why, when you look at the lineup, you would see that demography in the list. The most important thing is to get yourself out there, more.

IM Farai Mandizha of Zimbabwe| Photo Credit: David Llada

I would also like to break it here that there is a little change in the lineup. FM James Canty pulled out, and we have replaced him with Zambia’s top player, IM Farai Mandizha. Farai is someone I have known for a while and a massive addition to the lineup.

Just to probe a bit. A number of individuals mentioned that Tanitoluwa Adewumi would streamroll the event. What’s your take?

Next Gen Cup participants! | https://www.chess.com/events/2025-nextgen-cup#format

I honestly don’t see that happening at all. If it was the 3+2 time control of Titled Tuesday, then maybe, because he is very used to that time control. However, with this time control (10+2) the hope is that players will be able to think a bit and not easily get flagged. Also, we have some experience, as well as a couple of budding young players like Tersee and Goodness, whom I am pumped to see what they bring onboard. I know it will be an amazing event.

A word for the fans and would be followers of The Next Gen Cup?

I would like to say that the success of the event is in your hands. Let’s turn up en masse, to support the players of your choice, follow the games, and ultimately, promote black chess to the world. Grandmaster Maurice Ashley and I will be running commentary, along with a few special guests, so be prepared to be entertained.

A few other questions were raised by attendants and Kassa duly attended to them within the time frame of the interview.

Africa Chess Media would like to appreciate Kassa and his team for this initiative and we promise to work within our means to ensure the word gets to as many Africans as we can reach. Let’s get #NextGenCup Trending!

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