The Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Kisii branch has lauded St. Monica Girls’ High School from Rift Valley for having qualified for the World Chess Championship.
Speaking at Kisii after seeing the team off to Aktau Kazakhstan in Asia, Mrs. Saphina Kenyando the Secretary of the Kenya National Youth Chess said the team will carry the Kenyan flag in the completions slated for 3rd to 8th this month.
She revealed that the event attracted 73 teams to compete in the Coveted World Chess Championship.
Kenyando narrated about the long journey St. Monica School has had in playing Chess to the climax which was marked during the Chess National Championship in Kisii County on 23rd-27 of April this year.
The national sports event that was graced by the Kisii County Governor Simba Arati attracted 3, 246 participants of which 2, 089 were boys and 1, 157 were girls.
The teams were grouped according to categories that ranged from Under 8 to Under 18 from both sexes drawn from all parts of the Country.
St. Monica Girls ‘School presented 30 participants in various categories to fight for the national glory and this strategy worked well as they emerged the overall winners defending their title.
“Their sterling performance was a clear testimony that down watered the long wrongly held notion that boys do better in Chess than girls.” She said.
Kenyando who is the Secretary of the Kenya National Youth Chess said the Championship title had been formerly possessed by Alliance Boys’ School which held the title in 2918 but was scoped from them by St. Joseph Kitale in 2020.
The coveted Chess Championship was seized from St. Joseph’s Kitale who cuddled it for two years in 2020 and 2021 before it was grabbed by the emerging queens of St. Monica girls this year.
St. Monica team that traveled abroad comprises five girls and two teachers.
Mrs. Kenyando named Faith Cherotich, Mary Wothaya, Deborah Cherotich, and Maysie Andia, all under 16 except Purity Cherotich who is under 18 category.
According to the principal of the School Mrs. Grace Oyugi and the team captain Madam Christine Makokha, the team was hosted for breakfast before they were taken to the airport for a prestigious flight.
The trip was sponsored jointly by Chess Kenya and World Chess Federation.
By Enock Okong’o
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