No one in the Nicolas family were professional chess players. But Karlo Nicolas, a lawyer by profession, would sometimes play the sport at home for leisure. Then there was one instance when he thought of playing Catch the King with his then seven-year-old daughter Nika Juris. It’s essentially like chess but using only a few chess pieces.
Then over the pandemic, Nika was stuck at home and had nothing to do, so she decided to subscribe to a chess app. What she’d do was simply copy the moves of other chess players. After a few games, she asked her mother, lawyer Nikki de Vega, to get her a chess coach. “Gusto kong gumaling, nainteres ako sa laro,” the bespectacled girl with curly locks recalls to us in a video call.
It was in June 2021 when Nika started getting formal chess training from Coach Lourecel Ecot of The Chess Castle. In February 2022, Nika joined her first online tournament, the National Age Group Chess Championships Pre-eliminations, where she topped in the Girls Under 10 category. “Baka tsamba lang,” Atty. Nikki thought to herself then.
But the succeeding turn of events didn’t seem like a product of sheer luck. In Nika’s first over-the-board standard tournament—the National Age Group Chess Championships for Girls under 10 Grand Finals in July of the same year—she won second place.
Little did they know, Eugene Torre—the first Filipino and Asian to qualify for the title Grandmaster—was at the event observing. “Nakakatuwa kasi nilapitan ako ni GM Eugene Torre,” the proud mom recalls. “Sabi niya sa akin, ‘Attorney, magiging GM 'yang anak mo.’”
In the Eastern Asia Youth Chess Championships for Girls under 10 held in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2022, Nika placed second again. A month after, she emerged as champion in the Batang Pinoy for Girls Under 11 Rapid Event. “Sabi ko,” recalls Atty. Nikki, “parang iba na yata ito.”
Nika Juris
The lawyer-mom admits she was initially hesitant about the idea of Nika pursuing chess professionally. Like many traditional parents, the Nicolas couple’s dream for their daughter was to finish her education and pursue a stable career. “[My daughter] was named after the goddess of victory, Nike, and Juris is Latin for law. So abogadong walang talo,” Atty. Nikki offers, smiling. “Pangalan pa lang niya, dapat maging lawyer na siya tulad naming mag-asawa. Yun ang dream namin for her.”
But the mother and daughter struck a deal—Nika could continue playing chess but she has to juggle it with her studies. And that’s what the girl did. Over the past months, her growth in the sport has been phenomenal. In the NCFP National Eliminations held in Negros Occidental March of this year, she prevailed in the Under 11 Boys Division.
In the National Youth and Schools Chess Championships Under 11 Division held last April in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, she topped the first elimination and was undefeated up to the last round.
In the National Youth and Schools Chess Championships Grand Finals held in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte last June 2 to 9, she was the lone female participant in the Boys Under 11 Division. She went home with a silver in Standard and Blitz events and a bronze in Rapid.
For her remarkable accomplishments in the sport, she was conferred the NCFP the National Master title last June 9. “Masaya talaga ako,” the chess wunderkind tells us. “Mahirap kasi kunin ang title na yun, mas lalo pa pag babae ka.”
Pushing boundaries
Atty. Nikki says when it comes to chess, she and her husband encourage Nika to push her boundaries. “Suntok man sa buwan, sige lang. Just try your best,” she’d tell her daughter.
The first time Nika joined the standard tournament, the novice chess player wondered why the boys and girls played separately. Atty. Nikki told her, “You can actually play against the boys.”
And that’s what she did in the next tournament. She competed against boys at a chess event in Tagaytay—but the boys had no chill. “Mommy, napakahirap. Ang aggressive pala ng mga lalaki maglaro,” Atty. Nikki remembers Nika telling her. The mother then asked her kid, “Do you still want to do it?” Nika said yes. But they agreed she has to train harder.
Nika competed against the boys at the National Youth and Schools Chess Championships Eliminations last April and she emerged as the champion. Then in Dapitan last June, where she was the only female contender, she secured a podium finish in the three events (standard, rapid and blitz).
“Dati nung hindi pa nila kilala ang galing ko, pinagtatawanan nila ang mga lalaki pag natalo ko,” Nika tells us. “Pero ngayon yung iba nagsasabi na ayaw na nila ako kalabanin dahil natatakot sila. Kailangan nila humakot ng puntos.”
Atty. Nikka says she is happy her daughter could actually inspire other girls to excel in chess and change the landscape of the sport in the country.
Pains, losses, sacrifices
Nika’s journey to becoming a National Master was not an easy one, says Atty. Nikki. Like any athlete, she also had to deal with many challenges. “When she joined the National Juniors, suntok sa buwan yun. She was the youngest participant,” says the lawyer-mom. Nika landed on 30th place.
She tried out for the national team as the youngest player and she qualified in the pre-grand finals. She placed 14th out of the top 15. “She barely made it,” says Atty. Nikki. “But we do that because we want her to go out of her comfort zone.”
There are tournaments that are scheduled close to each other and so the 10-year-old girl would have very little rest. “One time she got sick. She experienced her first mental block sa sobrang pagod. And she also has to juggle the sport with school,” says the mom. Nika is now enrolled in Victory Christian International School’s Homeschool Program.
Nika is no crybaby. But there was one time Nikki saw her cry after playing against the boys.
“Nakita ko yung frustration, yung feeling of helplessness. Bakit hindi siya maka-advance?” she shares. But the kid used those experiences as motivation to train harder. “While other kids are playing, siya nagte-train siya sa chess. At least, all her hard work, lahat ng pain at luha niya sa kanyang mga pagkatalo, nag-pay off naman.”
She would tell Nika there are more lessons in losses than in victories and she should not be afraid to lose. “Inilalaban namin siya sa malalakas, kasi doon siya matututo at mag-iimprove.”
Atty. Nikki says if Nika feels down after a fight, she’d give her ice cream and chocolates. “Mabuti na lang mababaw ang kaligayahan niya,” the mom says, smiling. “Pag binigyan ko ng paborito niyang food, gumagaan ang pakiramdam niya.”
Nika is currently in Bangkok, Thailand competing in the ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championship. It’s her first time to be competing against male chess players in the Asean region.
Her dream, Nika tells us, is to become a world champion. “Hopefully by next year, she’d be ready for world competition,” says her mother. For now, Nika is taking it one step at a time, continuously pushing her boundaries and aiming to be the best she could possibly be.
Photos courtesy of Atty. Nikki de Vega