Ali Thameem
There is something special about child prodigies in chess. Unlike most physical sports, where prodigies are noticed later in adolescence, chess is a game where even children can become national figures.
There are currently 65 Maldivian chess players with a FIDE rating, and, astonishingly, 79% of them are Gen Z (born after 1997) or younger. As of now, eight-year-old Makeena Naushyn Ali is the latest player to cross that threshold.
Having earned a classical FIDE rating earlier this year, Naushyn is officially the youngest Maldivian to do so.
A FIDE rating is an international rating that indicates how strong a chess player is. It is given by FIDE, the world governing body for chess, and players can earn it by competing in approved tournaments against other rated players.
Naushyn learned to play at the age of four after joining the chess club at Billabong High International School, first picking up the rules of the game from her mother, Dhimna Fakir.
Two years on, Naushyn has now earned a 1415 classical FIDE rating and a rapid rating of 1403.
She was introduced to competitive play almost immediately after learning the game, at an age when many strong players also begin their competitive journey. It was not long till she was selected to represent BHIS at the interschool level.
At eight, she already has more tournament experience than many before her did at that age. She has faced opponents nearly forty years older than her.
Naushyn has played in competitive, FIDE-sanctioned tournaments, achieving the required norms to obtain her rating, including events organized by the Maldives Chess Association. She has twice competed in club tournaments in Billabong, finishing in second and in third. She has also represented BHIS at inter-school level, and became runner-up in the U8 category. She went on to earn another silver medal at the junior national tournament.
The early stage of Naushyn’s chess journey is the kind of origin stories many title holders look back on later on.
It was therefore not small wonder that Naushyn skipped a grade and now studies with older students at BHIS. Over the board, she is also accustomed to facing girls physically bigger and older than her.
At a recent club tournament, she defeated the national Under-10 champion. In the same event, she recorded wins against players a decade older. During the school holidays, she travelled to India and competed in Under-8 tournaments in Cochin and Bangalore, gaining experience alongside peers from a country long associated with the game’s early history.
This February, Naushyn competed in the National Chess Championship, her second time competing in the women’s division. Notably, she is among the youngest players to have competed in the national tournament.
Away from chess, she has taken up physical sports such as skating and swimming, as most pro chess players do. She also spends much of her free time reading.
Seated across a chess board, when asked to play her favorite opening, Naushyn went E4, and followed up ..E5 with Knight F3, setting up the Italian game.
She is currently reading a guidebook written by Judit Polgár, widely regarded as the strongest female chess player in history. Naushyn says the book was a gift from her chess role model, Nihaya Ahmed.
When asked about her dream, Naushyn says she wants to become the youngest champion in the Maldives. But even more boldly “my dream is to become a Grandmaster one day, and beat Magnus Carlsen”, says Naushyn.
