African Genius Chess Championship 2026 crowns winners across seven age categories

The second African Genius Chess Championship has crowned winners across seven age categories, with about 200 participants gathering at Ghud Park, Accra Mall, on Saturday, October 24, 2026. Organised by Imagination Africa and Mentors Chess Academy, the competition brought together young chess players, alongside parents, guardians and coaches, to promote intellectual development, inclusion and equal opportunities for children from different socio-economic backgrounds.

Acheampong Dave Quansah Chief of Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, who was the standout performer at the first edition, won the Under-20 category. Gyepi-Garbrah Emmanuel Kelvin of GTUC finished second, while Anang Richard of the University of Ghana placed third. The winners received prizes, including laptops, printers, irons and vouchers provided by CanWest Ltd, while Dext Technology supplied science sets.

Twisco also supported the event with products for participants, who received certificates alongside trophies and medals presented as part of the awards. “We are looking forward to AGCC becoming a household event, one that everyone looks forward to, one that people know that, look, this year, there’s going to be this number of chess competitions happening.

I’m targeting it. I want to win first place. I want to win second place,” said Mariam Mahamah, co-founder of Imagination Africa. “Maybe the first time I got knocked out, I want to get this far. We want it to be something that everyone enjoys and looks forward to.” The championship builds on the success of its maiden edition in 2024, which attracted more than 150 young players from over 15 schools across Ghana.

The initiative continues to use chess as a platform to nurture critical thinking, concentration and problem-solving skills among young people while expanding access to the game across different backgrounds. “We believe that it’s one sport that cuts across almost every other facet of life. So, we’ve been doing this for some years now, and you can tell from those that we’ve been working with for some years that, from where they started till now, there’s been great improvement in even their education, their maths, arithmetic and all of that, and then how they also analyse issues and solve problems.

So, it’s a game that we believe is the way to go if we really want to develop as a country,” said David Acheampong, founder of Mentors Chess Academy. Full list of winners Under-8 1st: Nyameba Nana Osei Osei-Manu (Harvest Christian Academy) 2nd: Kunt Hikmet Kaan (Al-Rayan International School) 3rd: Mitchell Baksmaty (ICS) Best Girl: Ohene Nunna Under-10 1st: Matey Dromi Lorm (North Hills International School) 2nd: Matey Jormi Lorlor (North Hills International School) 3rd: Ajeigbe Andre-Benjamin (Lycée Français International Jacques Prévert d’Accra) Best Girl: Kaia Donkor (Lycée Français d’Accra) Under-12 1st: Acheampong Jeddiah Nana Osei (Englebert) 2nd: Krithik Raj Medisetti Mahi (East Airport International School) 3rd: Oke Jaden (Al-Rayan International School) Best Girl: Krystelle Owusu (Lycée Français d’Accra) Under-14 1st: Pradeep Harshan (Healthy Mind) 2nd: Joy Van-Eijk (Solo) 3rd: Essel Jadon (Brain Hill International School) Best Girl: Abigail Chine Tsyokpo Under-16 1st: Siddharth Gupta (DPS) 2nd: El Assaad Essam (Al-Rayan International School) 3rd: Agamaku Caleb Kuame (Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, Legon) Best Girl: Safwan Larine (Al-Rayan International School) Under-18 1st: David Yoel Varela Sanchez (Goethe-Institut Ghana) 2nd: Pryce-Tandoh Jeshurun Obiri Yeboah (University of Ghana Basic School) 3rd: De-Souza Nathan Best Girl: Zuttah Euodia (University of Ghana, Legon) Under-20 1st: Acheampong Dave Quansah Chief (Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, Legon) 2nd: Gyepi-Garbrah Emmanuel Kelvin (GTUC) 3rd: Anang Richard (University of Ghana, Legon)