16-year-old Maud Benson is determined to be the first female grandmaster in Ghana and she’s doing everything possible to achieve her goal. She’s already being hailed as Africa’s Queen of Chess.
(Photo: Achimota School via Facebook)
Benson only started playing chess at 14 after her French teacher got her to join the chess club. Once she realized the game was helping her strategize perfectly, she stuck to it. Playing in junior competitions, she was the only girl who could comfortably compete with boys.
At age 13, she beat all the best female chess players on the Ghana team during the 2015 Team Championships. She gradually made her way into national competitions, like the Women’s Championship where she easily pushed adult players aside to win the tournament.
She soon moved on to international competitions like the African Junior U20 Chess Championship in Togo where she scored an impressive 6/9 last December.
On how far she wants to go in the game, she said:
“I want to be the first female grandmaster in Ghana. Yes, yes, chess will be a constant feature and, so far, it has taken me here.
I believe that chess will give me the platform to help in creating awareness for female chess in Ghana and Africa as a whole.”
Last February, she secured a spot on the national team representing Ghana at the Chess Olympiad in Georgia come September 2018.
(Photo: Ghana Chess Association)
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