Ain Insyirah Rosli from Penang has already participated in over 200 chess championships both locally and internationally within two years.
And out of that, she won 27 titles!
Last April, Ain made the country proud by becoming the only Malaysian representative at the Asian Youth Chess Championship 2018 held in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Her mother, Zaiyana Mohd Hussain, told the New Straits Times that all of her four children were interested in chess since they were young. But Ain was the one who showed great potential when she was six years old.
Her parents recognised her talent after she started playing chess in school. They decided to train Ain for one hour every day after she completed her homework to help her develop her chess skills.
Once she started participating in chess competitions, her family gave her their full support.
Ain would spend another hour daily training with a professional coach. She also takes the initiative to compete in online chess tournaments to sharpen her skills.
What a determined young girl!
Besides playing chess, the SK Minden Heights student also excels academically and is actively involved in public speaking. Not only that, she is also studying Chinese in school!
One day, she hopes to become like her idol Magnus Carlsen, the Chess Grandmaster from Norway, and win the Woman Grandmaster title herself.
However, due to financial constraints, Ain’s parents couldn’t afford to send her to more international level competitions.
“She even missed the opportunity to join two other international competitions last year in Mongolia and Romania which needed approximately RM13,000 and RM20,000, each,” Zaiyana said.
So, in light of Ain’s achievements, Batu Uban assemblyman A. Kumaresan presented RM1,000 to Ain as a personal donation to help her grow and become a future chess champion.
He said he would discuss with the Penang Sports Council to provide Ain with financial assistance to participate in more international tournaments.
“Maybe we can offer grants to such talents to ensure that they hone their skills further and not give up mid-way. If we can overcome the financial issues, I believe we can produce more talents in the country,” Kumaresan said.
It is high time for the government to step in and develop our local junior talents in their respective areas of expertise.
Let’s put Malaysia on the map!