(Sports news) Eight year old chess player Advay Dhoot from Mumbai recently participated in chess tournaments in Germany and France and his strong performances earned him the top junior chess contender title. He has also entered the top four in India as the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in the new player listings.

Having begun playing chess at the age of four, Advay has participated and won at many domestic and international tournaments in the last four years. He is one of the youngest rated chess players in the world and is currently atop the rankings in Maharashtra with an Outstanding Elo rating 1337. He is currently in the third standard at Dhirubhai Ambani International School.

174 chess players from 7 countries participated in the German tournament in Heidelberg and Advay managed to win against players rated over 1400+. He also defeated Germany’s second ranked junior player Laura Sophie, ranked 1385. Advay then went on to participate in the French tournament held at La Bresse, and scored 4.5 points out of 9 rounds in the 41st edition of the tournament. He also represented his school at an international tournament at Lichess Lugano in September 2021 and finished in the top quartile in an open category with no age limit.

His revered coach, Guttula Balaji says “His love for the game will take him far ahead in this chess world. He has made us proud by turning himself into one of the strongest players among his peers already and I see a lot of success in store for him in the future.” The eight year old from Mumbai now sets his sights on a few national tournaments from January to April and will be travelling to Georgia to participate in the World School Championship in September.

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