Sixteen-year-old Nigerian chess player Sandra Omoruyi has set her sights on becoming a Grandmaster after winning the World Rapid Amateur Chess Championship in Abuja in August.

Omoruyi, who comes from a family of chess players, said the victory has strengthened her belief that she can compete successfully at the highest level and inspired her to pursue bigger achievements in the sport.

She said her immediate objective is to secure title norms, while her long-term ambition is to become a Grandmaster, continue representing Nigeria and contribute to the country’s success at the Chess Olympiad.

“I changed how I see myself. Before, I was just a player with potential. Now I know I can compete and win at the world level,” she said.

Omoruyi’s introduction to chess began within her family, with her father serving as her first coach. Her siblings later taught her how to record chess moves before she began training under her current coach, Edward Eguavoe Evbuomwan, popularly known as Coach Eddy.

She also acknowledged the contributions of several other coaches, including Coach Ann, Coach Marian, Coach Ben, Coach Illoba, Coach Nosa and Coach Segun, saying each played a role in her development.

According to her, winning the Most Valuable Player award at the last Youth Games was a turning point in her chess career.

She said she initially participated simply to learn and enjoy the game, but the achievement made her realise that she could pursue chess at the highest level.

However, Omoruyi said her journey has not been without obstacles, particularly the financial and logistical difficulties involved in attending tournaments.

She also identified distance and insecurity in Nigeria as challenges, especially because she is a minor.

Her first major tournament was the National Chess Championship, an experience she said initially left her nervous but ultimately convinced her that she could compete despite the difficulties.

Preparing for major competitions has also required an intense training schedule.

Omoruyi said she sometimes trains for between 10 and 16 hours a day, depending on the day and the demands of her programme.

On less demanding days, training typically begins around 9am or 10am and ends between 10pm and 11pm, with three to four hours of breaks for lunch, dinner and school runs. On more demanding days, she said training could continue until 2am or 3am.

She explained that some of the late-night sessions involved playing practice games against chess engines as part of her preparation for the Olympiad.

Despite the demanding routine, Omoruyi said she balances chess with school and family responsibilities through planning and discipline, adding that her family remains supportive of her ambitions.

For the World Rapid Amateur Chess Championship, she said her preparation focused specifically on Rapid and Blitz formats.

In the weeks leading up to the competition, she worked with Coach Eddy on tactical puzzles and played numerous Rapid and Blitz practice games, including against his students and particularly his son, Henry Evbuomwan.

She said the preparation was designed to improve her accuracy and ability to make decisions under intense time pressure.

Her toughest moment came at the beginning of the Blitz event, when she lost her first three games.

The poor start left her questioning whether she would recover after travelling for the competition, but a conversation with her coach helped her regain her composure.

She recalled that Coach Eddy advised her to step away, take a few deep breaths and clear her mind before returning to the competition.

Omoruyi then decided to treat each remaining game separately, eventually turning the difficult start around with a series of wins.

She said the experience taught her an important lesson about resilience, noting that a poor beginning does not necessarily determine the outcome of a tournament.

Winning the title, she said, was initially difficult to process before feelings of joy and relief set in.

She said her first reaction was to look up and thank God, while also thinking about her family, coach and Nigerians who had supported her.

The victory, according to Omoruyi, made the sacrifices, losses, early mornings and long training sessions worthwhile.

She also described representing Nigeria and returning home with the title as a particularly proud moment.

Beyond chess, Omoruyi plans to pursue a career in medicine and become a medical doctor.

She said she wants to help people and contribute to her community while also encouraging more young girls to take up chess.

Omoruyi believes that a person’s starting point should not determine how far they can go, saying young people can rise to the highest level regardless of whether they begin playing chess at school, on the streets or elsewhere.

With faith, hard work and resilience, the 16-year-old said she believes she can achieve both her ambitions of becoming a Grandmaster and a medical doctor.