By Nazifa Ramailan
PETALING JAYA, 14 January 2022: A 17-year-old teenager, Nur Batrisya Wafa Mohsen brings Malaysia at the international level when she participated in the 20th International Chess Festival in Prague, Republic Czech to collect ratings to qualify for a higher level.
Batrisya, a student of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Kajang has been competing for a week with opponents of various ages in the tournament that commenced on 7 January (Friday) and will end today.
The father of the chess master, Mohsen Amdan, 44, said his firstborn set off to Prague accompanied by his wife, Wan Fatahhiyah Remli, 42, using their own expenses.
“My wife and I raised our own funds for encouragement and to provide exposure and experience to Batrisya competing at the global arena. She also needs to collect and secure her rating.”
“The higher the rating, the higher the level of the tournament she can join. For example, the rating must be high for a national representative to join Southeast Asian game and qualify for a higher level,” Mohsen further added.
Only high-rating players can participate in the most prestigious game, the World Chess Championship.
Mohsen told that Batrisya and his four other children often enter chess tournaments virtually to collect points and elevate their ratings.
Besides, Batrisya has won many local chess tournaments and recently, she appeared as the first runner-up in the under-18 category in Selangor Schools Sports Council Chess Tournament 2021.
“Batrisya departed to Prague for two tournaments. She is currently contesting in the The Hacker Checker group for the open category. She will join another tournament after this at other district in Republic Czech,” said Mohsen.
Batrisya, who is also a sport scholarship recipient at her school, belongs to the professional category as she accumulates 4-digit rating.
Mohsen further added that Batrisya’s rating is 1200 before leaving to Prague.
His daughter’s interest was discovered at the age of 10 and grew even further after the headmaster of Sekolah Kebangsaan Saujana Impian 2 provided coaching services to hone the chess playing talents of the students in the particular school.
Upon finishing primary studies, Mohsen and his wife hired a private coach for Batrisya and her siblings to continue their training in the sport.
Now, Batrisya is starting to get used to the coaching field and training teenagers and kids who are interested in the sport.
“Batrisya’s siblings, Nur Basyira Wafa, 15, and Mohd Evan Mikail, 11, also used to contest in Thailand. Batrisya was not able to participate as she had an examination at that time,” Mohsen stated.
However, the future of Batrisya, her four siblings and many other amateur and professional chess players in this country is still uncertain because chess is not reckoned as high-prestigious sport, thus denying them from receiving any government allocation.
“The cost that we have to bear is quite hefty but there is nothing we could do. We are on our own,” admitted Mohsen.***
Source: Free Malaysia Today