This archive report was first published on 26 November 2019.
Lucy Wanjiru's love affair with chess began by accident, but it has since become a defining part of her life. The fourth-year electrical engineering student at the University of Nairobi first saw a chessboard when she was in primary school, but it wasn't until she was in high school that she began to learn the game.
She was inspired to take up chess after her friend, who was the chess captain at his school, told her about the game. Lucy and her friend completed high school in 2015 and were both admitted to study the same course at the same university. It was during her university days that Lucy decided to sign up for a chess tournament, where she won her first game by accident.
Lucy noticed that there were few girls at the tournament, which motivated her to take the game up. She began practicing with a seasoned player and initially lost many games, but she didn't give up. In 2017, she was defeated by an opponent, which left her contemplating quitting the game. However, she didn't quit and instead got hold of chess textbooks.
Later that year, Lucy took part in the national championships and emerged among the top five females in the country. She first made it to the list of 24, then the list of 20, then the list of 10, and finally to the list of 5. In August 2018, Lucy travelled with the team to Batumi, Georgia, to represent Kenya at the Chess Olympiad.
At the Olympiad, Lucy won the Woman Candidate Master (WCM) title after winning five games and drawing two. Since 2016, Lucy has played in many tournaments and played at least 50 matches. She believes that chess is a brain sport that tests one's ability to think and outwit an opponent.
Lucy's style of play is to attack, and she has sacrificed pawns to win games. Chess has improved her intelligence, and she feels like her performance with math has greatly improved since she began playing. She has also won prizes of at least Sh50,000, which is valuable for a university student surviving campus life.
Lucy's ambition is to play at the next Olympiad in 2020 and acquire a higher title: the International Master. She advises anyone who wants to join chess to first be sure that they are passionate about the game.
