What do we know about chess? Well, we know it is a very strategic game, which can be traced back about 1 500 years when it started in North India.
What you do not know about chess is that local eight-year-old chess enthusiast, Kajol Naidoo placed first at the recently held South African Junior Chess Championships in her age category. Through her success, she has now been selected to play for the South African team at the upcoming Commonwealth Championships. The Randburg Sun spoke to her father, Gerard to find out more about the young chess player.
Kajol started playing chess about four years ago after she saw it as a great excuse to avoid going to bed at bedtime. “She found all the excuses and asked tons of questions like what the black and white board was in her cupboard and what the pieces that go on top are,” said Gerard.
Although he was by no means a chess player, he knew the basics well enough and in time Kajol and her father would play the game regularly. Seeing her passion for the game, her parents see to it that she get chess lessons and it was through these lessons that Estelle Oberholzer of Chessnuts (in Randburg) recognised Kajol’s talent and suggested the parents buy an advanced DGT (digital game technology) chess clock, the same one used international tournaments. “Soon Kajol played her first tournaments and grew into being the youngest, at five-years-old, to be a Johannesburg Metro team player at the December 2016 SA Junior open chess championship,” said Gerard.
When asked what she loves about the sport, Kajol simply said, “When you lose or make mistakes you learn new things and can use that next time around.”
Kajol’s doting parents expressed just how proud they are of their daughter. “We are grateful that the universe and our creator has blessed us with such an awesome young lady who daily teaches us lessons and exudes love and care, whilst able to switch into match mode and search for competitive winning strategies.” said Gerard.
He also shared that after her victory, they teared up with relief and excitement. Through the sport Kajol has travelled to different parts of the country, made great new friends and is excited that she can now represent her country internationally. “Kajol has learned about discipline and sacrifices through chess,” said mom, Tarnya.
Her parents hope she inspires others to see that a hobby can turn into so much more and that with dedication to a goal success is incumbent. “We just want her to love the sport, and to keep pushing her own boundaries, the world is her oyster,” concluded Gerard.
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