Rishul is European Champion

A Year 10 pupil has been crowned U16 European Chess Champion – the first time an English player has won the title. Rishul Karia was selected to represent England in the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE, or World Chess Federation) team championships in Karpacz, Poland, and was placed first after scoring 8/9.

National Junior Chess Squad leader Glynis Purland said “We were really excited with Rishul’s victory, as we’ve been taking players for a number of years and it was the first win by an English junior. He is such a quiet and modest boy, we were delighted for him. He was awarded a tablet and a huge cup for his victory. We were a bit unsure about how we were going to get it back to the UK!”

Rishul started playing chess with his father when he was just five and has already enjoyed success representing the School and competing at national level. He was part of the U12 QE team that won their age group at the National Schools’ Chess Team Championships and was in the School team again in Year 9 which qualified for the National Finals at Uppingham School in Rutland.

He also took the opportunity to challenge a five-time World Chess Champion at the Super Rapidplay Open at the London Chess Class at Olympia earlier in the year. Although he lost and did not feel that he played well against world-ranked number six Viswanathan Anand, Rishul acknowledged that the experience had helped him improve his own game.

His brother, Devin, who is in Year 7 at QE, was also selected to represent England at the European Championships in Poland. He acquitted himself well, scoring four points.