15/05/2026
Some mothers pray. Some mothers cry. Vivian Opiyo did both and then she made a move. Kay's Wellness Centre presents a Mother's Day podcast on how Chess transformed a child with ADHD into a top player. Vivian Opiyo didn't come rehearsed. She came real and I left that conversation deeply moved.
Raising a child with ADHD in a society that mistakes it for bad parenting is not for the faint-hearted. Vivian faced the whispers, the unsolicited opinions, the loaded silences of people who should have shown up but didn't. She nearly crumbled. She pushed on anyway.
She found Chess. And Chess found Kyle. He didn't just play chess, he conquered it. Runner-up at the 2025 Kenya National Chess Championship. A clutch performance at the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship in London. Now heading to the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in September 2026 as part of the Kenya national team. Proof that the right environment, at the right time, rewrites everything. But this isn't only Kyle's story. It's about the Chess Moms who became Vivian's village. Women who show up with snacks, strategy, and zero judgment.
And as a Functional & Integrative Medicine specialist, I have spent years asking the question: What if the answer isn't always in a pill bottle? What if healing looks different-sometimes like a 64-square board, 32 pieces, and a child who finally has somewhere to put all that energy? In a digital age where screens are engineered to hijack our children's attention, Chess fights back & does something extraordinary especially for the ADHD brain.
It doesn't quiet it. It meets it.
It builds sustained attention, the very thing ADHD disrupts
It demands impulse control in the heat of competition
It strengthens working memory and forward planning
It teaches patience, critical thinking & emotional regulation, one difficult game at a time
Globally, the FIDE - International Chess Federation's initiative dubbed the FIDE's ChessMom Project which covers caregiver costs for professional female players competing at the Chess Olympiad while nursing is a powerful statement: that women should never have to choose between motherhood and their calling. Launched in Budapest 2024, it now returns for the 2026 Olympiad in Uzbekistan, with eligibility expanded to mothers with children under two years old.
This podcast episode is our Mother's Day offering. Trust me, you'll want to watch this one! https://youtu.be/EzwNFtPqyjA
A Mother’s Day special on how chess transformed a child with ADHD into a top player. Hear the powerful journey of Kyle Kuka through the eyes of his mother. I...
