History has just been made as 17-year-old Tersee Nyuima Ferdinand becomes the youngest-ever Nigerian National Chess Champion!
Coach Eluekezi Phoenix Chkwuwikeh Narrates
AGAINST ALL ODDS
At the start of 2024, Tersee had two main chess goals:
1. Become the Nigerian National Chess Champion
2. Train hard enough to attain or surpass the 2400 ELO rating.
At several times this year, both goals seemed practically impossible to achieve. Apart from the usual struggles of being a Nigerian living in the country, his school schedule meant he couldn’t train as hard as he was used to. There were additional obstacles, too. First was his path to qualification for the National Chess Championship (NCC). His easiest path was to qualify as the “highest-rated junior” in the country. He was precisely this at the start of the year and until May, when at the DahnyPro Toco Junior Chess Championship, a grueling tournament where he was the top seed, he lost a game and drew two against lower-rated juniors. His K-factor meant he lost 80+ rating points! He suddenly found himself in 3rd place. Things worsened when his school schedule meant he couldn’t play in classical tournaments to recover or grow his rating.
In 3rd place on the Juniors’ list. However, Tersee still had a slot in the NCC Qualifier Tournament. Still, when, with just days left, rising star 16-year-old Tyowase Tyover Collins had a stellar performance at the North Central Zonal Qualification tournament, it was clear he would be pushed back to 4th place, effectively eliminating any path to NCC qualification. That is, except a tournament he had played months before would get submitted for rating. The straw beckoned, and I tried to grasp it. With the intervention of several others, the tournament eventually got submitted for rating on the very last possible day. He had tied for first place in that tournament, which meant he was back in 1st place and by a mile at 2171!
Equation 2
The above, though nail-biting, pales compared to how daunting his chances of clinching the National Championship title seemed just before the start of the last round. Terese had the White Pieces against FM Callistus Eyetonghan (both contenders and on 6½/10). Then there was IM Balogun Oluwafemi, with the White pieces, also on 6½/10, playing IM Aikhoje Odion. But the greatest obstacle to his ascension was FM Abdulrahman Abdulraheem Akintoye, who was half a point ahead of the field on 7/10 and had the White pieces against Lapite Oluwadurotimi. Too many things had to align for Tersee to become Champion. One by one, they did!
First, IM Balogun Oluwafemi lost his game. Then FM Abdulrahman drew his. This didn’t seem to change a seemingly inevitable outcome as Tersee’s game against FM Callistus increasingly looked like a dead draw waiting to be ‘played out. That was till FM Callistus, in a manner only reminiscent of proceedings at the World Chess Championship just a day before, “Dinglirenishly” blundered, thus gifting the whole point to Tersee. This unfortunate incident resulted in a playoff battle between Tersee and FM Abdulrahman.
Round 10: Tersee Ferdinand Nyuima versus FM Abdulrahman Abdulraheem Akintoye, White to play and draw?
One of my hardcore tenets is to avoid playing blitz games. I allow rapid play only occasionally and mostly for specific or targeted reasons. So the FM held the aces here as he was a much more seasoned blitz/rapid player, evident by his countless tournament wins during these time controls.
I was overjoyed that Tersee was at least tied for first place, and I immediately congratulated him. I felt a little bit of guilt for not letting him play blitz often, but I quickly dismissed the thought and reassured myself that the benefits of abstinence outweighed any downsides. I said, “I know I won’t let you play blitz; I heard the time control is 10mins+2secs. Whatever it turns out to be, just go and play chess. Do not pressure yourself in any way”.
Round 1 Playoff
Round 2 Playoff
I couldn’t get myself to watch. But then I got a call from former National Champion, FM Fawole John Oyeyemi, who told me he was watching the playoffs and that Tersee was holding his own against FM Abdulrahman. When it ended in a tie after both games, and it went down to Armageddon, Tersee having 5 minutes to FM Abdulrahman’s 4 minutes, but needing to win with the White pieces, while the FM just needed a draw, my stress levels went through the roof. I couldn’t take it and didn’t bother watching.
Armageddon – Must win situation for white.
He won!
It was the most magical news I had ever heard in my entire life! I am not a father, but I doubt any father has ever been prouder!
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
In 2018, on one of my routine visits to train my juniors, brothers Ikechukwu and Emmanuel Osadebe, for the National Youth Games, I met Tersee for the very first time. Emmanuel Osadebe, about ten years old at the time, had just taught most of his peers in the neighborhood how to play chess. They would usually gather to play; the winner retains his seat, and the loser leaves for someone else to play. They were never quiet. Noisy, boisterous, always cheering and jeering – it would be hard to concentrate or even play what you intended since suggestions, corrections, and rebuttals were constantly in the air.
On such a day, I came around, and instead of pulling my students aside for their training, I decided to watch. Terese sat down when it was his turn, unassuming, calm, very, very quiet. He was taking a lot of time between moves, which agitated the ‘mob’ a bit more than usual as they jeered ever more loudly. Tersee calmly ignored all the noise and kept at his task. He didn’t seem to understand much but calmly played on amidst the noise. As his position deteriorated further and further, he continued with the same calmness even till checkmate. I remember thinking, “I would never have this much composure if I played with all these distractions.” There was something different about this kid. Something special! He lost the game and stood up as calmly as he had sat and played. When the next match got underway, I called him aside and quizzed him about any and everything.
He had made an indelible impression on me, and I told him there and then that he would play in the upcoming National Youth Games for me, as I am the Yobe State Chess Coach. Yobe State eventually didn’t feature at the event, so I handed the Osadebe brothers and Tersee to Bayelsa, who, along with Alagoa Kere, won the Team Silver. Of course, Tersee was by far the worst player on that team. But that experience and that Silver medal planted something in him because he started reading every book and leaflet in sight when we got home. In a few months, he had read every available book multiple times! He probably didn’t understand much of what he read back then, but his dedication made me vow that I would do whatever it took to give him a chance to shine.
A BOY OF CHARACTER
Hard work is a talent.––Garry Kasparov.
Tersee obeys instructions and is hardworking, diligent, and kind. For a child, he is very considerate and will never utter a lie. When things don’t go his way, he hardly ever complains. He is the easiest student to teach. All you have to do is point him in the right direction and give him quality guidance.
FM Abdulrahman and Tersee have taught me that “A good student makes a good coach”, not the other way round.
A FIGHTING CHANCE
The dearth of chess tournaments in Abuja, and the North in general, especially back in the day, meant that despite all the training Tersee was getting, he needed to get the opportunity to play. He was already winning more games against me than I did against him. Apart from a few school tournaments here and there where he left dropped jaws in his wake, he didn’t have much to show. So, against the odds, we left for Lagos for the 1st IGP tournament. He missed the first round and missed a prize by half a point at the end of the event. We proceeded to NCC, where he scored a perfect 6/6 in the under-14 category, thus becoming the Under-14 National Champion. He played in the National Chess Championship Opens but had no podium finish. This was the spur he needed to intensify his training. We went back to Abuja afterward. Almost a whole year passed by without him playing a single tournament. That was when I relocated with him to Lagos “against all odds. I had to give him a fighting chance.
Whilst I struggled to keep us alive, he started his spree. Shocked everyone at the NCC U2000 category going into the last round with a half-point lead, only to lose but tie for 2nd and 3rd place with Ambesh. Then he represented FCT at the National Sports Festival, winning a board Silver. His rating shot up, and people began to take notice.
SUPPORT SYSTEM
Tersee’s demeanor attracts people to him. He doesn’t take up much space, but he does beautify it. His support base has been steadily rising, with every additional element making his life more pleasant and bringing his ultimate chess dream of becoming a Grandmaster and the World Champion someday ever closer!
