GEORGE TOWN: Eight-year-old Ain Insyirah Rosli calls Magnus Carlsen, a Norwegian Chess Grandmaster, as her idol and one day, she hopes that she will be able to clinch the Woman Grandmaster title herself.
The Year Two pupil of SK Minden Height has already competed in over 200 chess competitions, both at home and abroad.
Ain Insyirah was also the sole participant who represented Malaysia in the Asian Youth Chess competition held at Chiangmai, Thailand between Mac 31 and April 1, this year.
Her mother Zaiyana Mohd Hussain, 39, said all her four children have a great passion for chess since young and Ain Insyirah proved that she had real talent at the age of six.
The third child in the family has received full family support to participate in chess competitions at school even though she did not manage to secure wins initially.
“She cried on her first defeat but somehow gained the strength and bounced back to become champion in the following competitions after that.
“Last year, she won fourth place in the National Scholastic Chess Championship 2017 in Putrajaya and became champion in the Malaysian National Youth Chess Championship 2018 in Johor, last March,” Zaiyana said.
She was with her husband Rosli Mat Seliaman, 46, at the Batu Uban assemblyman service centre here, when met by the NSTP.
According to Zaiyana, Ain Insyirah is also an excellent student, active in public speaking and is also studying Chinese in school.
She added that Ain Insyirah spends an hour daily training with her coach. She even competes in online chess competitions to sharpen her skills.
Zaiyana, however, felt disappointed that she could not help her child to participate in several international level competitions due to financial constraints.
“She should have been on her way to Shanghai, China to join the 3rd Eastern Asian Youth Championship 2018 but we could not afford the RM8,000 estimated cost there.
“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.
“Yes, I am upset but I am trying to be positive that more opportunities will arise in the future,” said the enthusiastic child.
Batu Uban assemblyman A Kumaresan today handed over RM1,000, as a personal donation to Ain Insyirah, to help the girl achieve her dream of becoming a young chess champion in the future.
He said he would discuss with the Penang Sports Council to assist Ain Insyirah financially to participate in international competitions in the future.
“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,” he added.