Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
SHE may be the youngest member of Team Zimbabwe but young Chess protégé Amyra Jain is defying age and exuding the confidence of a veteran ahead of the FIDE World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad, which is set to be hosted by Colombia later this month.
At 13, Jain is the youngest of a Zimbabwe contingent, who will be making their debut appearance at the Olympiad championships scheduled for August 16-23.
Non-playing captain Tapiwa Gora, leads the Zimbabwe cast, which also includes Amith Boddapati, who is the highest-rated Under-16 player in the country, reigning national Under-16 champion Danmore Mashawa and another Under-16 champion Carrol Ndlovu.
Jain, the youngest of them all is the Under-13 champion and she recently came fifth at the Under-15 Africa Schools Chess Championships in Kenya.
Gora expressed confidence in the team’s abilities, saying they have prepared well and are ready to perform on the big stage.
“The preparations have gone well, and we’ve done everything we can to get the team to their best condition possible.
“As Zimbabwe Chess Federation we are really excited about representing the country at the U-16 World Youth Olympiads,’’ Gora said.
Gora would be more pleased to note that his youngest player is not feeling any sense of intimidation ahead of the Olympiad.
Instead, she is excited about the prospects of competing and wants to continue to set new parameters and has vowed to take aim at a place on the winners’ podium.
“I’m feeling excited to be representing Zimbabwe at the Olympiad and ready to explore the opportunities that I am going to get playing at an international stage.
“As the youngest player in the team I just want to do justice to the team and be as good as they are,” said Jain.
The Zimbabwe Chess Federation, for whom Gora is also the executive director, are also optimistic about the team’s chances and they are hopeful the players could bring back a medal and set the bar for future teams.
“As Zimbabwe Chess Federation we are really excited about representing the country at the U-16 World Youth Olympiads.
“We are looking forward to an exciting tournament and hopefully we will bring back the medal for the country and set a precedent to the other teams that will follow going forward.
“The preparations have gone well and we have done everything we can to get the team to their best condition possible. So, now it’s a matter of going there and performing on the big stage,” said Gora.
He added that the team is the best that country has in the Under-16 category.
“The team was selected based on rating.
“By rating, Amith Boddapati is the highest rated Under-16 in the country, then we have two Under-16 champions Danmore Mashawa and Carrol Ndlovu.
“Amyra Jain comes in as the wild card, as the youngest player in the team and is the current Under-13 champion for Zimbabwe and recently participated at the Under-15 Africa Schools Chess Championships in Kenya and managed to come fifth,” Gora said.
