This Youth Month, Tukkievaria celebrates UP’s changemakers who are under 35. One such star breaking barriers in the chess world, is TuksChess chairperson and master’s student, Cora Mak. Cora has been selected to participate in the FISU University World Championship Mind Games 2022, to be held in Antwerp Belgium in September.

Cora has diligently worked towards this moment since she was in primary school. At the age of 8, her curiosity was sparked by watching her father teach her brother how to play chess. Eager to follow in her brother’s footsteps, she quickly took a liking to the sport and began attending chess coaching lessons at school. She was pleasantly surprised at her progress and began to study the game in depth with the aim of playing competitively. “I just loved it a lot more than any other sport and it was something which I was good at,” she says. What Cora loves most about chess is the mental skill required to map out moves and strategies while playing. “One is constantly considering a number of possibilities, ” she explains. Additionally, chess has cultivated a culture of discipline in her life and created a peaceful environment which, as a reserved and quiet person, she thrives in.

However, being part of the chess community has not always been easy for Cora. In primary school, her peers did not recognise chess as an official sport or as something to be admired. Only in recent years has the popularity of chess increased, partly as an result of movies and shows such as Queen of Katwe and Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. Additionally, there is a minority of female players in chess and much debate over whether men and women should be allowed to compete against one another at university and national level. Another element that she navigates is the misconception that chess is easy. She explains, “People know how to play and pack a board, but not how to analyse. There's so much more to chess than just the basic rules, like the variations of the lines, openings, tactics and time management etc.” Her desire is for the skill and dedication required to be a chess champion to be recognised and for people to be informed about the differences between beginner, intermediate and grandmaster levels.

Fortunately, Cora’s career is evidence of progress in the chess community. As the first female chairperson of the TuksChess Club, she hopes to inspire more women to join the club. Similarly, she is thrilled to be representing South Africa at the FISU tournament in Belgium alongside players from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, University of Cape Town, University of KwaZulu Natal, University of Limpopo and University of Stellenbosch. “We finally broke that barrier,” she remarks. “After years, we get to represent South Africa at an international university chess tournament.”

UP fully supports Cora and her team and wish them well as they prepare to fly the SA flag in Belgium. 

To learn more about TuksChess or to join the free online matches, reach out to Cora here: [email protected]