Sidibari
The Maldives junior national chess team has flown to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to compete at the Western Asian Youth Chess Championship 2025.
The team consists of eight players competing across three age categories: U16, U14 and U12. Fathmath Zoya Hassan and Aishath Sarah Ismail will compete in the girls’ category, and the rest will compete in the open category.
Speaking to Sidibari, the Maldives team’s coach, Mohamed Rayyan Adam Shakir said that although we got tough competition, he is hoping to return home with a medal.
“The competition is very tough this year, but Insha Allah, our players will be able to bring home a medal. We have high hopes for this team, as they are the future of Maldives chess,” says the 20-year-old.
The Western Asian Youth Chess Championship will be played from 21-28 of this April. Maldives team will compete in all three time-controls.
It will start off with the Rapid Championship on Monday. The nine-round Classical championship will start the next morning, and continue till next week’s Tuesday. The Blitz Championship is scheduled for Saturday evening.
