THEOTIME RUTAREMARA flies out of the country today to compete in the 2nd AIDEF Chess Championship to be held from May 30 to June 9 in Beirut, Lebanon.

The International Chess Association for the French speaking countries (AIDEF) was established in 2007 and is affiliated to the World Chess Federation [FIDE].

Rwanda became an AIDEF member in January 2013.

"We didn’t take part in the first edition held in Marrakech, Morocco last year due to financial constraints, but this time, we are pleased to send Theotime Rutaremara to represent the country,” the Rwanda Chess Federation president Kevin Ganza told Times Sport on Wednesday.

In a separate interview, Rutaremara said he is very happy to represent his country at the international competition and hopes to perform well.

Rutaremara is ranked 5th in Rwanda and 1723in the world. His last major competition was the 2012 Chess Olympiad held in Istanbul – Turkey.