Chess: England children sweep gold medals and world titles in Rhodes

England’s chess children claimed a record 14-medal haul last weekend when the island of Rhodes hosted the European Schools age group championships followed by the Fide World Rapid and World Blitz youth championships. Seven golds, one silver and six bronzes put England second in the overall medal table, one gold behind Turkey but one ahead of Ukraine.

The result owes something to Netflix’s Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit, to the inspiration of Magnus Carlsen as an active and personable world champion, but also to the pandemic when schools were closed and chess websites offered unlimited free play at fast time rates. Young talents could hone their skills over several months with thousands of speed games.

Two seven year olds featured in this column recently were both multiple winners. Kushal Jakhria won two golds and a bronze, while Bodhana Sivanandan scored a triple gold and won all 24 games she played.

The English Chess Federation arranged for Jakhria and Sivanandan to receive daily coaching via Skype at Rhodes from the former British champion GM Jonathan Hawkins whose online junior club at Lichess has over 700 members.

England’s girl players won five of the seven golds, as the ECF’s campaign to attract more female participants gathers momentum. One useful contact is She Plays to Win, which offers free online coaching and support for girls from beginner level upwards. The ECF would like a sponsor for women’s chess to stimulate further progress.

Alireza Firouzja, the brilliant 18-year-old who jumped to world No 2 last autumn, is back in action this week after a mysterious five-month absence from competitive play. The former Iranian, who now represents France, is one of four GMs using the just started Superbet Classic in