By Leshi Adebayo
Nigeria’s youngest gold medallist, Deborah Quickpen, has won the just-concluded U-10 Africa Youth Chess Championship in Ghana.
The 9-year-old native of Bayelsa State, who is a chess prodigy, amassed 8.0 points, to defeat Tunisia’s Hasnaoui Abrar in her 9th and final game.
Miss Quickpen was crowned champion ahead of nineteen other participants drawn from other African nations in the competition.
She has set a new record in history as the youngest female chess player to bag a Woman Candidate Master (WCM) title, following her feat.
The young chessmaster was one of the two Nigerians selected to participate in the competition, alongside others from Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Tunisia and South Africa.
The multiple medalist was ranked seventh in Africa, and first in West Africa after the Chess Championship in Namibia in 2019.
