Young teens’ potential to win chess with complex patterns and skills is just astounding.
Genivan Genkeswaran, a 13-year-old boy stamps his name in the 7th Johor International Chess Open 2022 league which was held last month. The young boy defeated a chess grandmaster during the tournament that took place at Fairview International School Johor Bahru, with participants from over 15 countries.
The young lad, was just three years old when his father won the Bronze Medal for Malaysia at the 2013 SEA Games. Following that, at the age of 7, Genivan started learning chess at his father’s chess school, Chess Master Journey. Picking up the sport with ease, Genivan’s passion for chess was more than just a hobby for the young boy, eventually winning home matches over his renowned father.
To Genivan chess was more than a hobby and often would throw challenges with his dad against chess matches.
“I just really love playing chess,” said the young champ from Klang, unfazed by his achievement as he truly enjoyed playing matches in this cognitively challenging sport.
Genivan is also known to be the son of Malaysian SEA Games Bronze Medalist Genkeswaran Muniyan. His dad recently became the talk of the town after his feature in a film entitled “Wanted”: Shades of Life Ep.3. The documentary series follows the astonishing journey of Genkeswaran, who, despite all odds, turned his life around to inspire thousands of students across the country to pick up the game of chess as a means of improving and developing themselves.
Being such an inspirational figure, Genkeswaran’s life journey was made into a documentary. Click HERE to read more.
When asked about his son’s recent victory, Genkeswaran shared, “My son is rising very quickly. He was recently even selected as the official player to represent Malaysia for the Eastern Asia Youth Chess Championship 2022 U14 Open in Bangkok, Thailand.
With his growing passion for chess, I suggested he compete in the title players league instead of those amongst his age group or rank. I remember telling him it wasn’t about winning but building a winner’s mindset. But even I was shocked and thrilled when he was winning matches against those double his age, even winning against a Grandmaster.”
But it’s not just Genkeswaran’s son who is making a name for Malaysia in the chess world. Many students from Chess Master Journey are bringing Malaysia’s name overseas by participating in various chess tournaments all around the world, namely in Mongolia, Singapore, China, Thailand, and Indonesia. These students are currently training for upcoming national and international tournaments for 2023.
Congratulations and good luck to these bright young brains who will one day bring Malaysia’s name to the world stage, and we look forward to hearing about their future achievements.
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