When I was in high school, there was a sad stereotype that only nerds played chess. And the only reason I learned to play the game was that the girl up the road (one of my early, unrequited loves) said she would teach me.

My very basic chess skills – I didn’t pay enough attention to the chess during the lessons, okay? – only came to be roped in years later, when my son was at junior school and the parents got together to set up a chess club.

I had taught my son to play when he was about five years old and he was already able to beat me by the time he got to Grade 2.

I volunteered to train the beginner class and I saw first-hand the benefits of the game.

Mothers of brats (who needed good old-fashioned discipline rather than Ritalin) would come to tell me that chess had improved their concentration, reduced their unruliness and boosted their school marks by 20 percentage points.

When my son played regular inter-schools and later inter-provincial tournaments, one of his heroes was South Africa’s first international chess grandmaster, Watu Kobese. He was the rock star in the world of these 11-year-olds. His success and his sharing of his talent helped bring many kids from the townships into the sport.

So, he is a fitting star of the latest in a series of commercials by carmaker Mazda, put together by Grey Advertising Africa. These feature South Africans who have registered outstanding achievements in their field... and it is appropriate they chose Kobese as the hero in this one.

The spot is shot in moody available light and the soundtrack is Kobese speaking about chess and his life – and the important success of authoring a book about chess in isiXhosa. Up until then, nothing had been written about chess in this major African language.

Kobese talks about the essence of chess: “Precision, imagination, logic, problem solving.” That’s a mantra which fits perfectly with Mazda, a car brand known for both innovation and reliability.

Every move is carefully calculated and precise to achieve the desired outcome. #DearPerfectionists #MazdaCX3 pic.twitter.com/fVxoTcLqT6

— Mazda Southern Africa (@Mazda_SA) December 1, 2020

It doesn’t have to show its cars screaming around country roads to cruising outside discos. No doubt they can do that, but their essence is the same as that of chess.

And that is an attractive – and comforting – message of quiet intelligence from a brand.

So, Orchids to Mazda, Grey, as well as director Ernest Nkosi of Bomb Commercials.