We opened our doors in Bayelsa again, as the region is fast becoming a hub for honing grassroots chess talent.

This time, we left our doors wide open, expecting a massive turnout. We weren’t disappointed! The girls didn't come in twos and threes; they came in hundreds.

On February 27th, 151 girls walked into the Community Playground on Samphino Street, Kpansia, Yenagoa, for our chess workshop. The next day, we got even more girls than the first day; more than 170 girls showed up. The news had spread overnight. The girls of Bayelsa State were not waiting for an invitation twice.

That is the story of Season 2 of our Bayelsa outreach. The best part is next!

Day One: Little Steps and Learning to Think Like Queens

As always, our workshops start with the basics of chess, recognizing that many of the girls are new to chess. For those with prior experience, these lessons offer an opportunity to refresh their knowledge and deepen their understanding of the game.

We show the girls how the chess pieces move, how they capture, and how one decision on the chessboard can change everything.

Happily for our instructors, many of the girls had carried what they learned in our first outreach into this room, so the instructors went further. They introduced tactical motifs in chess, like the pin, one of chess's most elegant tactics, where a piece is trapped because moving it would expose something more valuable behind it.

Most of the girls got it immediately.

The girls were more than enthused to have learned something a bit advanced. They felt like they had hacked the whole concept of chess. From being completely unaware of what the game entailed to knowing what a pin is, the progress was fast. They now call themselves chess professionals.

Soon, the space was smaller than the crowd, and the chess sets ran short. The instructors were outnumbered. Learning continued still.

Day Two: The Tournament

Day two brought more girls than day one. This was not unexpected; it was already a beautiful turnout on day 1, and the girls wanted to keep playing. Beautiful seeds have been planted.

A state environmental sanitation exercise pushed the start, and we also had to change venues.

By 2:00 PM, we commenced our mini-tournament following a brief period of crowd management and participant organization.

The tournament was divided into two age groups: Under 10 and Over 10. The top eight players from each group qualified for the knockout rounds.

The games were keenly contested, and all the girls played with such professionalism and sportsmanship

When the final moves were played, our winners emerged. Let’s meet the overall winner first

Angel Bella — Overall Winner

Angel Bella emerged as the Overall Winner, lifting the trophy with the confidence of someone who'd known it was hers to win. Angel was presented with a new tablet to support her continued chess development and ensure she can keep practicing long after the event has concluded.

Christabel Barie — Under 10 Winner

Christabel Barie (small and mighty as we call her) claimed the Under 10 title. She was also awarded a tablet to keep training on her own terms.

Ugo Doubra — Community Prize Winner

Ugo Doubra took home the Community Prize. We do not only award chess prowess, but we also encourage a sense of community and initiative amongst the girls, and Doubra was befitting of this award. Her steady hands earned her this award, and she also got a tablet to keep her practicing chess.

And then there was Pearl.

Pearl lost out on a prize by the narrowest of margins. She cried, and this showed us how passionate she was and how much what we do at Promoting Queens matters to these girls. The team saw her passion, and we went out of our way and budget to ensure Pearl got a tablet too. Pearl’s passion for the game is unmatched, and we could not but notice it and reward it.

That's what Promoting Queens does. We see girls, and we unveil their royalty.

Get a glimpse of the event here.

What This Season Proved

More than 170 girls attended on the second day alone. Many of them had participated on day one, went home inspired, and returned the next day bringing even more girls along with them.

What makes this remarkable is where it happened: it was not in a capital city, backed by corporate sponsors, or hosted in a state-of-the-art auditorium. It took place in a community playground in Kpansia, over a weekend, powered by volunteer instructors and with barely enough chess sets to go around. This did not affect our team or the girls; they kept showing up, driven by curiosity, determination, and a growing love for chess.

Before leaving, Coach Bomo made a promise to the community: to donate chess sets to the playground, so the girls don't have to wait for the next event to keep playing chess.

That's the whole idea. We don't just show up, run a tournament, and leave. We leave something behind. We always want to build something that stays.

Season 2 is done. Season 3 is already inevitable.

The People Who Made It Happen

None of this happens without Bomo Kigigha — lead organizer, coach, and coordinator on the ground. Bomo held this together from the first girl who walked in to the last prize given out. His commitment to these girls is what Season 2 was built on.

To every volunteer who showed up, stayed late, and gave their time so that more girls could play, we say, thank you. You were outnumbered, but you didn't leave.

And to the sponsors who believed in this before the crowd proved them right: Tunde Onakoya, Kari Ten Farms, C4 Chess Academy, Bayelsa State Chess Association, ChessKid, Mr. Edison Nimite, and our very own FM Abimbola Osunfuyi. This season carried your names into that room. We are grateful.

A special thank you to ChessKid; our winners will be training on ChessKid with their tablets, keeping the learning going long after the event ends. We want the girls to play on their own terms and in the comfort of their homes. We hope to do more than we already have; we won’t stop.

Be Part of What Comes Next

Every chess set we place in a community costs money. Every t-shirt, every prize, every volunteer we can properly support it all adds up.

Every chess set we bring into a community costs money; the same is true for T-shirts, prizes, and the resources needed to mobilize our volunteers. Right now, we run purely on the budgets of a few good people who are bent on ensuring every girl gets a seat on the board; we are not founded, but this won’t keep us dull; the girls need us, and we’d be there always.

Be a part of our journey to unveiling royalty in girls; support a girl today

Your support directly funds chess programs for girls who need them most. 100% of what you give goes toward putting more boards in more rooms, and more girls in the game.

Promoting Queens is a US-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit empowering girls through chess. All donations are tax-deductible.