Chess is a game that requires incredible mental skill. Its most professional players have an agility of mind that is unmatched and can move pieces around the board with an impressive swiftness. For Bernice Wambui, the journey to joining the ranks of these awe-inspiring players began at the age of five while in first grade at Juja St. Peters. The Chess Club at the school caught her eye and she was interested to know how the game was played.
Digital Learning and Chess
Her fascination in the game grew in leaps and bounds during the COVID-19 lockdown. As online platforms became more and more pertinent during the pandemic, Bernice brilliantly used them to her advantage. With nothing but time, she perfected her skills through online platforms like Chesskid. She eventually earned Golden King status – the most difficult to achieve. Bernice came out on top on other chess platforms too. Online platforms like Chess.com gave her the opportunity to test her mettle against international opponents through digital games and Bernice thrived!
She has since amassed incredible achievements such as representing Kenya at the Africa Youth Chess Championships held in Accra, Ghana in 2021 and the Online Africa Individual School Chess Championships in 2020 and 2021. Locally, Bernice has emerged as the U10 Girls Winner of the Nairobi Schools Chess Kenya League 2020 and the U12 Girls Winner of the 2ND Edition of the East Africa online Youth Championships.
Taking Chess to the World
Even amidst these achievements, Bernice constantly turned her mind towards her community. While visiting a children’s home in Gatundu, she taught the children there to play chess and their enthusiasm lit a fire in her. She was put in touch with the Gift of Chess – an organisation that dispenses chess boards globally. Soon enough, Bernice proudly became a Global Ambassador for Gift of Chess and had a hand in distributing chess boards to underprivileged children.
As a result of her advocacy of the sport, 25 other girls have been able to benefit from being introduced to chess coaches through Bernice and using Chesskid accounts to build their skills just like she did. Bernice’s efforts reach far beyond herself as chess has been advocated for as a tool to achieve SDG 4: Quality Education. This is due to its correlation to better performance in sciences and math. Bernice is only proof of this as a lover of maths, science and technology herself. Infact, alongside becoming a Grandmaster and professional chess player long-term, she dreams of putting her interest in science towards becoming a Software Engineer.
We thank this #KeMchezaji for letting her star shine bright for herself and for her community. Bernice Wambui’s incredible contributions to chess at such a young age will be felt for some time to come.