- Hi, my name is Elsa Majimbo.
I am 19 years of age.
I am a very, very, very proud
young African dark-skinned woman.
I was so shocked
by the amount of popularity that my videos got.
I was shocked as everyone else.
I didn't expect it.
I thought I was funny,
but other people thinking I was funny?
That was something different.
I'm a 15 times chess champion.
And every single time I say this,
people always think I'm joking.
I even put it on my bio,
and people still thought I was joking.
Do I not look like a chess champion?
I'm really good at chess, guys.
What You Know About That?
The Real Queen's Gambit,
So the first time I started playing chess,
it was a very chance-like situation.
I had just moved schools.
And one day as I was walking towards the swimming pool area,
I saw so many people gathered playing chess.
And I was like, "Ooh!
"What's this mysterious, mystical game?"
So I went towards them and I asked one of the girls.
I was like, "Hi, can you teach me how to play this?"
And she looks at me and she said, "It's too complicated.
"You would never understand."
So I went to the coach and I was like,
"Hey coach, first of all, your players are so rude."
I was like,
"Second of all, please teach me how to play this game."
And at first, I was horrible.
But then I had so much time on my hands
and I got better and better and better.
The first tournament, I went and I was ready.
It went really well.
And as I was coming back home, it was super late.
And my dad called me
and he told me, he goes like, "You know what?
"I don't think I'm happy with you coming home at night.
"You're only 14."
And he told me, "This is your last chess tournament."
I said nothing.
I just, I went back home.
And when I entered the house, I had the trophy
I'd won in my hand.
And I entered with it, and my dad saw it.
After that, he took me for every single game.
So, that's how my love for chess began.
My first championship game was regionals.
So basically what regionals is
is people from your region come and gather,
and play against each other to see who qualifies to play
in the national league.
I had an hour and 15 minutes on my clock,
but I was just playing really quickly, moving
the pieces so quickly.
And that almost made me lose.
So, we are almost at the end
of the game and I'm losing, I'm sweating.
My opponent, she looks happy.
My opponent made one wrong move.
In chess it only takes one wrong move.
That's all it takes.
She was just looking at the board,
looking at me, and smiling.
I just moved my piece and I said, "Checkmate."
Chess and my career are very similar.
In both of them, it's all about the long game.
It's all about the end game.
There's no point in winning now
and picking all the pieces right now
if in the end, I'll just end up losing.
So my manager would tell me all the time,
'Don't do this now.
"Now don't pick this campaign now.
"Don't. Leave it, leave it."
And it was thousands of dollars.
And to me it would seem insane.
He told me, "Wait for the big bucks."
And I would look at him and tell him,
"These are the big bucks!"
And a manager, just like a coach,
they give you advice,
and it's up to you whether to listen to it or not.
So, it was always up to me.
And when I wouldn't listen, I'd lose.
When I'd listen, I'd win.
I'm doing the game the best way I can.
My chest technique is very quick, very rushed.
Sometimes I would lose the queen.
I wouldn't even call it carelessness.
I'm just not patient.
I'd rather things move at a fast pace.
It costs me sometimes, but I don't think I'll ever change.
(laughs)
I like when it's opened with the king.
'Cause you know white starts.
So every single time I look at my opponent, I'm like,
"Please open the with the king.
"Please open with the king."
And when they open with the queen,
I get very irritated.
I definitely think me and Beth are super similar.
'Cause she never took no for an answer.
I never ever, ever take no for an answer.
I always define my own path, and Beth did the same.
I never let anyone control me.
Chess gets crazy, insane!
Players walking all over, people shaking, people crying,
people breathing really, really hard.
Chess players are just like,
really, really, really sensitive for some reason.
And I don't even blame them.
Losing a game sucks.
No, it really, really, really sucks.
Chess is not a game where you go in when you're good.
It's a game you go in when you're the best.
When I was younger, we used to have this day
once a year where parents, teachers, friends, everyone,
there was just gather to celebrate the students
for everything we have achieved during the year.
And every single year we would have a guest of honor,
like the Vice President or the Minister of Health.
And they had this girl,
just any random girl they would pick,
they had a girl present flowers to the guest of honor.
It was a good trend, but I realized something.
Every single year,
every single year, they would pick a lighter-skinned girl
to present the flowers to the guest of honor.
And that's when I realized people don't go around screaming,
"I like light-skinned people.
"I think dark-skinned people deserve less."
People don't go around doing that.
People do it through their actions.
And after that, I just thought it was so stupid.
So, I thrived to be the best because I knew
I didn't deserve less.
I thought I was badass. (laughs)
I went for everything with everything I had.
I didn't know which direction I was going,
but all I knew is that I,
in no way, shape, or form deserved less.
Checkmate.