Young, talented, fun-loving and wicked at chess are just some qualities that can be attributed to Tawananyasha Chinoruma (8), who is in Grade 3 at Charterhouse Preparatory School.
Other than a photograph of her setting up a chessboard at the age of two-and-a-half, Chinoruma’s real memories of chess began in Grade 1 when she started to play at school.
With the help of her dad and her chess coach, Alessandro Parodi, Chinoruma played in her first national tournament at the age of eight.
She played in the U12C team in the South African Junior Chess Championships late last year and won six out of her seven games.
“I was kind of nervous and there were a lot of people in my age group, but I enjoyed it and it was a great experience,” she said.
Parodi said Chinoruma had achieved brilliant results at the championships as she had only played in school tournaments up until then. “She is very sweet and a nice girl to work with and I am very impressed by her growth,” said Parodi, who is part of the Randburg Chess Academy.
Chinoruma said she wanted to play chess all over the world, however, she still wanted to be a doctor and an artist when she was older.
