Durban Girls’ College pupil Shreeya Mahadeo, 14, came second at the South African Junior Closed Chess Championship (SAJCCC) held between March 31 and April 4 in Sandton, Gauteng.
Mahadeo participated in the Under-14 Girls section and after nine rounds finished as the runner-up. In March, she was invited to participate in the 2023 World School Chess Championships set to take place in Greece in late April and represent the SA under-15 team.
Mahadeo justified this selection by attaining seven points from her nine rounds. She won seven games and lost two, and narrowly lost out to the eventual winner by half a point.
Before the SAJCCC, Shreeya had won the online version of this tournament, so she headed into the Over the Board (OTB) version with confidence and well-prepared.
Shreeya said she practised puzzles regularly – three times a week – as well as attending the Chess Extra Curricular Programme at Durban Girls’ College every Monday and Wednesday. She also attends extra lessons with her coach on the weekends.
She said she reviews old tournament games and that helps her to prepare and learn from her mistakes.
“My parents always advised me that you can only achieve your goals by discipline and consistency. Going into any major event, I knew to always give my best, never giving up, and enjoying the game of chess,” Shreeya said.
Sebastien Mahadeo, Shreeya’s father, said that despite starting badly, her “never give up” attitude led her to winning her last five games.
Mahadeo added that his daughter also coaches and mentors children with the online club that started in their local community, the Queensburgh Online Chess Club. The club regularly plays online tournaments on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm.
Sayen Naidu, Shreeya’s coach, said he expected Shreeya to show good quality chess games, make minimal errors (“hopefully none”) and high accuracy in finding the best move in positions.
“I think going into any major event, there should be a goal that the player must ultimately decide. Shreeya has always impressed with her ability to calculate deep (working out many moves ahead), due to her good memory and visualisation,” Naidu said.
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