Here Comes The Knight

Kavin Venkatesan14SEPT19

aturally, all the preparation and research in the world don’t mean diddley-squat if you walk out the door without your notes.

Which is just what happened when going to meet 11-year-old chess champ Kavin Venkatesan this afternoon.

It’s all The King’s fault, calling all morning, desperate to see his latest Guide video chat, Elvis not having ventured yet into the weird world web.

Turns out he loves it. “I get better-looking all the time,” were his exact words.

So, when we swung down to the Venkatesan home in Charlesland straight after, we quickly realised then that our incredibly insightful and witty questions were still sitting smugly and snugly atop our desk. 

So, the facts and figures were a little fuzzy in our heads when we got to sit down with Kavin. In short, by the age of 8, this wunderkid was already showing signs of being chess championship material, coming second in the Leinster Junior Grand Prix. It would be Kavin’s first trophy. Today, he has 33 shiny hurrahs sitting pretty on a groaning shelf beside the sitting room fireplace.

Having started on the road of international tournaments after his first Irish Chess Union competition at the end of 2017, the boy wonder has gone head-to-head with the world’s finest in Spain, Scotland, China, Latvia, Slovakia and The People’s Republic of Kilcoole.

And to think it all started with a 7th birthday gift from a family friend, and an early determination to finally beat his very first teacher – Kavin’s dad, Kandasamy…

You can find out more about Kavin Venkatesan by emailing [email protected].