Garry Kasparov and the YES2009 summit

There's going to be a Youth Engagement Summit 2009 (YES2009) this Monday and Tuesday at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre and it will feature some very interesting and influential speakers from around the world.

I'm a bit excited about YES2009 because I've just got myself a ticket to attend this two-day event which will bring together about 500 youth from the South-East Asian region. Okay, so I do no longer qualify as a "Youth" but what the heck, you are as young as you think. If you believe you are young, then you are, and by golly, for this Summit, I sure believe that I am!

I'm excited because I'll get to listen to speakers such as Biz Stone who is the co-founder of Twitter.com, Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, LiveAID organiser Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats, AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes and - I'm obviously savouring this - former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.

YES...Garry Kasparov is coming to town but it's not for chess. He'll be an invited speaker at YES2009 on the second day of the programme and he'll be talking about Strategic Thinking. Always, it's a subject that's right up his alley because strategic thinking had got him to where he is today: a successful and instantly recognisable icon even outside the chess world.

I wrote about Kasparov only two weeks ago when I reviewed his book, How Life Imitates Chess in The Star and now, he'll be here in Malaysia among us next week. The only damper is that his chess fans in the country will not get to meet him. Anyway, you can read this review here.