Agencies-Gaza post
Palestinian kid wins at olympiad chess
Randa Seder, 8, is nervous and always up for a prank. At the same time, the Palestinian is not like any other eight-year-old. At her beautiful age, she is playing in the Chess Olympiad, the most youthful participant in the sport’s biggest game.
Intelligent talents are not uncommon in chess, only Seder comes from an occupied country with no real existence in the game.
The young girl did not take place in Palestine’s opening round on Friday but notched up a victory over Comoros’ Fahima Ali Mohamed in 39 moves on Saturday.
At a media relations, Seder sat with teammates Eman Sawan, Sara Alhmouri, and Taqwa Hamouri. Sawan is 15 and Alhmouri and Hamouri are both 16. They have all maybe had fascinating journeys. All eyes though were understandably on Seder and her adorable mannerisms.
“She started playing chess when she was five years old. Her father introduced her to chess and she immediately loved the game,” reported Sawan, translating the mostly monosyllabic answers in Arabic from Seder.
That Seder has to “fold her legs and sit on her knees” to even reach the chess board adds to the entertainment.
During the interaction, the connection between the four players shone through. Like Seder, her three teenage teammates are also experiencing their first Olympiad. Still, aside from concentrating on their own preparations, they also have to keep an eye on what Seder is up to.
“We feel an extra responsibility to take care of her. She is always about us,” the three girls said in unison.
But as far as chess is involved, Seder seems more than up to the job. She won a silver medal in the women’s championship in Palestine and is among the top performers in the world in her age category. What drives her so good this young?
“Randa’s brother Mohammed Seder is also a chess player. He is FIDE Master at the age of 13 and is playing for the men’s team. He taught her a few moves. Her father is the captain of the team,” said Sawan.
Seder clearly enjoys all the watch on her. “She is very happy to be the youngest. She is very enthusiastic to be here. She loves being common,” Alhmouri chipped in.
At the moment, Seder is too young to understand the hardships in Palestine and the long journey they had to undertake to get to India for the Olympiad. “It was hard to come here. We went to Jordan and then Bahrain before coming here because of the condition. We don’t have a lot of games in Palestine. We hope we will have many GMs in the future. I want the four of us to be future champions,” said Hamouri.
While the aspiration to become future winners will have to wait, Seder and her teammates will wish their desire to meet their Hungarian chess idol Judit Polgar (she is a FIDE commentator here) is fulfilled before the tournament completes.
