Making moves for success

Tunohole Mungoba

The national women’s chess champion, 19-year-old Nicola Veueza Tjaronda, says chess has always been her passion. After walking away with this title at the National Chess Championships in Windhoek last week, Tjaronda has qualified to represent Namibia at the World Chess Olympiad, to be held in Batumi, Georgia in September this year.

After competing with ten other top chess players in the region, Tjaronda managed to successfully defend her title as Namibia’s best female chess player. “The tournament had 14 female participants. I took part in the closed section at the tournament which accommodated the best players. We were all working toward winning the top award,” she said.

She is also a second-year accounting student at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust) and tells The Zone she started playing chess in 2008 at the tender age of 10. “For me, chess was love at first move. I grew fond of the sport; it is all I did during my school career. I honestly just never found other sports interesting and I did not get any satisfaction from other sports,” she explained.

She grew up with her extended family in Katutura and she was raised by a single mother. “I am the only daughter of four children and I have seen all the effort my mother has invested in me to give me the best. Because of that, I always put in a little extra effort in all I do to honour the sacrifices she made for us. Life did not hand me anything on a silver platter. I had to work extremely hard and that moulded me to be a goal-driven and ambitious young lady,” she said.

The young chess enthusiast matriculated at Jan Möhr Secondary School in Windhoek where she served as the deputy head girl in 2016 and was also honoured as sportswoman of the year for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015.

After playing chess for 11 years, her first big break was during primary school when she represented Namibia at an international tournament. “In 2012, I become the youngest national women’s champion; this is one of my greatest achievements.”

Her uncle, Albert Tjaronda inspired her to play chess and is one of the reasons why her exposure in the sports has grown over the years. “He took my brothers and I to The Weekend Chess Academy and I was captivated from the start,” she explains.

She decided to study accounting because she likes the challenge of working with numbers. “After completing this degree, I plan to become a qualified chartered accountant. Becoming a chartered accountant is my ultimate goal and with the right attitude, I believe I can achieve this goal,” she said.

She balances her life through careful planning and prioritizing. “I drew up a schedule which enables me to not neglect my studies, my chess or anything else. I like being organised, that way I am better prepared to tackle anything life throws at me.”

According to her, chess is not only a sport that assists in improving the mental wellbeing of an individual, it also enhances your cognitive abilities. “I would like to see more facilities like chess academies being established in order to increase exposure and participation of the sport. ”

Fasts facts on Nicola:

· What is your favourite food? I really enjoy pizza.

· What is your current favourite song? Emilie Sande’s ‘Architect’

· What is your favourite hangout spot in Windhoek? Tornadoes in Wernhil.

· What motto do you live by? “Do your best and God will do the rest.”

· Who is serves as your inspiration? My uncle, Albert Tjaronda

· If you could have any superpower, what would you choose? I would love to read people's minds. Just to understand society a bit more.

· What are you currently reading? Rules of Wealth by Richard Templar