Kenya: Chess continues to grow in popularity among prisoners

In Kenya, prisoners have been playing chess for fun and to help with rehabilitation. Among them is 28-year-old Brian Gatonye, who has served about 18 months of a three-year sentence for assault and is due to be released in November next year.

He says playing chess has helped him to become less impulsive. "Chess has taught me a lot. It has taught me being wise, being calm, choosing my decisions wisely. Before doing an act I have to think first, what are the repercussions of that act, then I decide to do it", Brian explains.

He's among a mounting number of Kenyan prisoners who have taken up chess in recent years. The game has become part of rehabilitation programs in the country’s prisons, where officials also see the benefits.

Humphrey Young, Superintendent of Maranjau Prison, says, "most of the offenders who are in this facility, they are petty offenders, they are here for crimes like assault, disagreements that they've had with their family members. And through chess, they can learn how to manage their anger and even learn how to live amicably with the members of their society, so that's why we introduced chess as a tool to rehabilitate the offenders."

The director of the Gift of Chess programme, a non profit that distributes chess sets, believes the game could stop imates committing other crimes once they're out of prison.

Phyllis Ngigi explains, "research has shown it is helping in rehabilitating instead of reconfining the prisoners in the walls, so the game is helping them to learn how to be patient, to make better decisions and maybe to narrow their anger so it is keeping them busy also and it is giving them like a second chance."

Such programs have operated in some Kenyan prisons for several years. As well as NGOs, they've been backed by the government and the international chess federation.