Photo courtesy: Nigel Short Facebook. Retrieved from pmn.co.nz

Excerpt from pmn.co.nz

A young Tongan woman has made history by becoming the first Tongan to compete in an international chess tournament.

Gisela Vea represented the Kingdom of Tonga at the Zonal Oceania Chess Championship in Melbourne last month.

Speaking to John Pulu on PMN Tonga, Vea said she began by joining the school chess club in Canberra, and then her involvement grew.

“The opportunity came when my uncle started up the chess federation in Tonga and this opportunity to represent Tonga in the Zonal Oceania tournament in Melbourne came.

“I just took it and I thought being the first Tongan to do that was huge, getting to represent our little nation. It was a good experience.”