By day, Sasha Mongeli, a member of the Nakuru chess club, earns her living from training children below the age of 18 how to play chess.

What a number of the children and their parents don't know, is that Sasha is the current Female Chess Champion in Kenya.

Upon meeting the reserved and humble 27-year-old, it's hard to know that she has represented Kenya severally in various chess tournaments; with the only nod to her title being her vast knowledge in the sport, awards and vast travel experiences.

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Her journey from being a pure and applied Mathematics student to being Kenya's Female Chess Champion is an interesting one.

Sasha Mongeli concentrates before making a move during one of her chess matches in 2023.

Photo credit: COURTESY

"I began playing chess back in 2016 while I was a university student at Technical University of Kenya. Playing chess was birthed out of curiosity for the sport. I'd constantly hear that it's quite hard to learn chess as an adult and even better, get good at it, so I took this as a challenge to learn and become the best."

Shortly after she began learning how the game is played, Sasha sought out Coach Moses Ondiwo to train her.

"After some months of training, I chochad myself that I was ready for the challenge that is a match" she shares before adding, "that was the worst match I've ever played," she says laughing.

From that point, Sasha's determination only grew larger. Her goal; to be the best female chess player in Kenya.

Soon, her hard work paid off when she began playing in different chess leagues after she joined the Nakuru chess club.

"My first major match outside Kenya tournament was in 2018, when I represented Kenya at the Olympiad. The team's brilliant performance landed us lots of recognition, experience and awards."

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Playing at this tournament opened many doors for Sasha who then went on to play at other great tournaments outside the country such as the 2019 All African games, the 2021 African individuals and world amateurs and the 2022 Africa amateurs and Olympiad held in India.

Sasha Mongeli receives the Kenya Female chess champion award back in 2021.

Photo credit: COURTESY

Regardless of all these tournaments, Sasha tells Mtaa Wangu that the greatest highlight of her chess playing years was 2023, when she was crowned Kenya's Female Chess Champion 2023, beating over 40 other opponents, plus a cash prize of Sh 100,000.

When asked if she has future aspirations in the chess world she shares, "Not many people know that I actually have a degree in Pure and Applied Mathematics. I plan on pursuing a Master's in the same and even getting a job in that field. However, I won't fully abandon chess. I'll keep playing and representing Kenya in tournaments."

While speaking on her journey it's clear to tell how much love Sasha has for the sport since it satisfies her curious nature as she's always learning something new.

As she narrates her story and love for chess, she notes that there's a lot of room for growth of chess especially here in Nakuru.

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However, Sasha notes that the only problems to this growth is the small number of spots to train, the few chess tournaments where chess players can grow their skills and the lack of funding and sponsorships for chess players that are good enough to fly out and represent Kenya.

"Many people think chess is a boring game but it's actually a very intellectual one. It's beauty: delivering checkmate to your opponent," Sasha Mongeli closes off.

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