New kid on the block, Vaibhav Suri wins Asian School games

New Delhi, Dec 30 (UNI) Another chess talent made his mark when nine-year-old Vaibhav Suri brought laurels to the country by winning the gold in the recent Under-9 section of Asian school Games in Singapore.

A student of R S Junior Modern School, Vaibhav finished the event with 8.5/9 score and stood clear first in a strong field, winning eight and drawing one game for his maiden gold in the international tournament.

Vaibhav was a late starter and it was as late as January that he started showing interest in the game. However, in just a matter of 10 months of persistent chess and intensive training, the boy has started showing very promising results.

Vaibhav's first success came at a FIDE rated tournament held here around end of July, where he was declared the best player in the U-10 category.

Training under GB Joshi and Prasenjit Dutta has also been instrumental in taking his game to the present level.

The boy showed remarkable results in the recently concluded U-9 Nationals, held at Solapur, Maharashtra where he faced a very strong and experienced field of players.

It was in the presence of reigning World U-10 Champion and the current U-8 Asian Champion, along with a string of strong players from down South and Maharashtra, that Vaibhav excelled. He showed his true grit and strong determination along with his cool temperament to come Runners up only to Girish Kaushik, the eventual champion. He scored 9 out of a possible 11 points as compared to Girish, who had 9.5/11.

The Delhi player was also a strong support for the silver medallist Indian team in the Asian School Games.

Vaibhav will be next playing in the Parsvnath International Open Chess tournament here from January 14-22.

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