This quote was sent to me by my mentor, chess coach and one of my dearest friends Olanrewaju Ajibola.
Now going into the second half of the year, I can’t help but look back and be grateful for how far I’ve come and how much I’ve achieved these past 6 months. One most worthy of note being my considerably outstanding performance in May, at the 2025 Nigeria National Sports Festival Gateway Games held in Ogun State, where I represented Rivers State.
My Most Notable Chess Achievement
A Double Gold Medalist🥇🥇
Saying this still feels so surreal!
To have won not one, but two gold medals at what is considered to be the most prestigious sporting event in Nigeria has definitely been the highlight of my year.
Looking back now, I couldn’t be more grateful to my dear friend, international master @stuffings who encouraged me to come down to Lagos just 5 days before the festival. Though I had been training prior to that, I didn’t feel in any way prepared for one of the toughest tournaments in the country and 5 days seemed too short a time to make any difference. But he as well as Papa Ajibola went out of their way to teach and encourage me, playing practice games, solving puzzles and providing in depth game analysis, all of which helped broaden my understanding of the game. Those 5 days gave me the confidence I needed going into that tournament.
I finished the event with a total of 6.5 points, also recording a noteworthy victory against the highest rated female player and current national champion, Ofowino Toritsemuwa.
This performance earned me not only an individual gold medal, but my very first gold medal in any chess tournament.
STEALING THE SPOTLIGHT
The 2025 Ogun State Gateway Games was my 3rd time participating in the National Sports Festival and my second time representing Rivers State. For the longest time, there had been 3 states consistently winning the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals in both the male and female categories- Delta, Bayelsa and Oyo State, so no one expected this time to be any different.
This year, the Rivers state female chess team consisting of myself and three other extremely talented ladies bagged the team gold medal! Scoring major victories against the Delta and Bayelsa state teams, as well as other contending states
This was in no way an easy feat because we were seemingly at a disadvantage, playing with a team of just 4 as opposed to the standard team of 6 (4 playing boards and 2 reserves). This meant that we had to play all 9 rounds of the tournament with no reserve players against some of the strongest females in the country.
Interestingly, after the first, we played all our remaining games on the top 2 tables and were first on the leaderboard until the very end, with all our games streamed live.
The Rivers state chess team won a total of 6 medals at the Gateway Games- A team gold medal, 2 individual gold medals and 1 bronze medal for the female team, 1 gold and 1 silver blitz medal for the male team.
What Next?
Over the past 3 years, I’ve worked hard to consistently improve my chess skills and I’m currently ranked at No. 16 in Nigeria on the female list, with a rating of 1845 as of July 1st. My goal is to be at the very top, so in order to achieve this, I need to double my efforts.
I look forward to participating in more tournaments and sharing my progress with you all
I’m really glad I got to share this amazing experience and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Please share your thoughts in the comments!