8-year-old PH chess prodigy gets world-class training in US
Alekhine Nouri to train in the US for world chess championship. FACEBOOK PHOTO
LAS VEGAS, Nevada – An 8-year-old Filipino chess prodigy is seeking specialized chess training and instructions in the United States in a bid to contend in the World Youth Chess championships.
Alekhine Nouri, a student at Far Eastern University-FERN, left August 10 for California to get world-class training at the North California House of Chess.
“Yes, we are sponsoring his trip here, including the camp fees and lodging,” said Ted Castro, who owns the chess school, in a Facebook posting.
While at the facility, Nouri will be tutored by a group of grandmasters and international masters that includes GM Enrico Sevillano and IM Ricardo de Guzman.
He was accompanied by his father, NM Hamed Nouri, himself an accomplished chess player.
“Gratitude is the memory of the heart. Thank you, Sir Ted Castro & North California House of Chess,” Alekhine posted on his Facebook page. “I’m so excited to see you.”
NorCal House of Chess conducts chess camps for kids with grandmaster coaching, and many of its students have won national titles at the scholastic and junior levels.
In addition to Sevillano and de Guzman, FM Ronald Cusi also teaches at the school. Former women’s world champion Susan Polgar and Varuzhan Akobian, who is currently playing for Team USA at the Chess Olympiad in Tromso are also visiting teachers at the facility.
“This kid needs all the support that he can get,” Castro said. He added that the boy’s father solicited sponsorship, but could only get a little, not enough to sustain long training regimen for the youth championship.
Castro said Nouri will attend the NorCal summer chess camp that usually last 10 weeks, but arrangement are being made for the boy to stay longer.
This year’s world youth championship will be in Durban, South Africa, Sept. 18 – 30. Next year, it will be held in Porto Carras, Greece.
Nouri is following the footsteps of Wesley So, the Philippines’ best player, who has decided to study in the United States and sought foreign coaching to improve his game.
However, So’s situation is in limbo because the NCFP, the chess governing body in the Philippines has not consented to his move to transfer federation to the United States.
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