At the World Youth Chess Championships held in Durban, South Africa, the strength of India’s player-development programme was thrust into the forefront as the once obscure chess nation won two gold, two silver and two bronze medals. That was twice the number of medals which the traditional elitist chess team, Russia, collected. India’s finest showing was in the boys’ and the girls’ competitions for players under 10, with the Indians winning the gold medals in both categories. The two silver medals came in the under-18 and the under-16 boys’ divisions, and the bronze came in the under-14 girls’ section and the under-8 boys’ group. The tournament registered 959 competitors representing 89 countries, 22 of which took home medals.
One of the winners of the boys’ gold medal, Nihal Sarin, is the World under-10 blitz champion, having won the title at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates last December. Nihal did that in fine style, finishing with a Fischeresque score of seven points from seven rounds, winning all of his games. Now he is playing in the World Junior Championship
