17-Year-Old Malaysian Girl Represents The Country At International Chess Competition In Prague

Malaysia has produced some of the best athletes in the world like Datuk Nicol David, Datuk Wira Lee Chong Wei, Shalin Zulkifli, the Sidek brothers, Pandelela Rinong and many more!

However, not many know that we also have a world-class chess player who is representing the country on the world stage! 

Photo via Facebook (Zulhafidz Yahaya)

17-year-old Nur Batrisyia Wafa Mohsen is representing Malaysia at an international chess competition, the Czech Open International Chess & Games Festival in Prague, Czech Republic. 

The competition which started on January 7th will go on until this Friday (January 14th). 

According to Sinar Harian, Batrisyia is a student from SMK Convent Kajang and is also a sports scholarship recipient at the school. 

Her father, Mohsen Amdan said that her participation in the tournament was fully funded by them as they wanted to provide her with more exposure and experience playing abroad. Prior to this, Batrisyia has also participated in tournaments at the international level, but due to the pandemic, everything had moved online.

“In this tournament, Batrisyia represents The Hacker Checker group in the open category and will play in several matches. After this, she will compete in another tournament but still here in the Czech Republic,” he said. 

Photo via Facebook (Zulhafidz Yahaya)

Batrisyia has won many local chess tournaments and most recently won second place in the under-18 category of the Selangor Schools Sports Council Chess Championship 2021.

“I hope that with this exposure, competing abroad will give her a new kind of experience because not many people get this opportunity. I hope that she can be an inspiration to more young players back home, especially women as chess is usually dominated by men,” said her father. 

This is amazing! All the best, Batrisyia, and know that we’re all rooting for you, girl!

By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat