Elsa Majimbo Shows off Chess Skills in ‘Yara Shahidi’s Day Off’ Exclusive Clip

Elsa Majimbo is not a professional chess player, but the 21-year-old can beat nearly everyone she faces. In an exclusive clip of this week’s episode of the Facebook Watch series Yara Shahidi’s Day Off, Majimbo goes up against Shahidi in a giant chess match. The clip shows Shahidi attempting to make a move, but she realizes that Majimbo can take her piece away quickly. 

“Queen Tings with my friend, Elsa Majimbo, Kenyan comedian and 15X chess champion,” Shahidi says in the official synopsis of the episode. “I humbly took an L while Elsa talked about her recent move to Los Angeles, ‘the Majimbo way,’ and what it takes to relentlessly follow your dreams. Learn our WHAT WE NOT ABOUT TO DO’S and more!”

Majimbo says she’s a 15-time chess champion with five national championship wins. However, this was a public joke as she was claiming this on a Netflix video clip, according to Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam. What Majimbo really is an award-winning comedienne who came to rise in 2020 during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her videos have led to earning millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok and receiving multiple endorsement deals. 

“I started playing chess when I was 15,” Majimbo said in the Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam interview earlier this year.  “I had told my father that I was going to be late due to entering the competition. It got super late, and with every passing hour my father, who was waiting at home, got more and more upset. He called me when I was on my way home to tell me that I could not enter any more competitions as it was a big distraction and went too late. I walked into my house holding the first-place trophy and my father was stunned. He drove me to and from all chess competitions from that day forward.”

In an interview with Forbes in 2020, Majimbo talked about why she made the videos. “I initially made my videos to bring joy to myself. I would make them and I’d think, I am so funny! I would watch the videos and just laugh!,” Majimbo stated. “I wouldn’t care if other people found them funny or not. Turns out, the videos have also brought other people joy, and I’m so happy they did. The full episode of Yara Shahidi’s Day Off featuring Majimbo premieres on Thursday at 12 p.m. ET on Facebook Watch as well as Shahidi’s Facebook page and Instagram page.