BY: Michelle Liew
Playing at the international level and against elderly competitors in a chess tournament was no challenge for 17-year-old Nur Batrisya Wafa Mohsen, who is now representing Malaysia in Prague, Czech Republic.
Accompanied by her mother, Wan Fatahhiyah Remli, 42, Batrisya is currently participating in the 20th International Chess Festival at the Prague Open, from 7 to 14 January.
Her father, Mohsen Amdan, 44, stated that they funded their daughter’s participation in the tournament to provide her the exposure and experience playing abroad.
“In this tournament, Nur Batrisya represents The Hacker Checker group in the open category and will play several matches. After this tournament, she will compete in another tournament, but still in the Czech Republic
“Before this, Nur Batrisya had participated in the tournament at the international level but due to the pandemic, it was done online.
“My daughter is still not that well-known yet to invite sponsorships, hence we will have to provide the experience for her and that her career in the game of chess can go further,” he said.
Mohsen explained that Batrisya is also one of the recipients of the Sports Scholarship Award from the Ministry of Education Malaysia (KPM) of her school.
Apart from that, Nur Batrisya won many local chess tournaments and most recently, emerged runner-up in the under-18 category for the Selangor Schools Sports Council Chess Tournament 2021.
According to him, Nur Batrisya’s interest in chess started when she was 10 years old and she was lucky when the headmaster and her teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan Saujana Impian 2, Selangor had previously ‘opened the way’ for her.
“All my children also play chess and Batrisya’s two younger sisters, Nur Basyira Wafa, 15, and Mohd Evan Mikail, 11, have also played in Thailand.
“What I hope is that the exposure of playing abroad gives Batrisya a new experience because not many people get such an opportunity. When she returns, I hope she can be an inspiration to more young players, especially women because chess is usually dominated by men,” he said.
Much like a real-life version of The Queen’s Gambit, Nur Batrisya is an undeniable talent from Malaysia and is set to break barriers in the world of chess.
