Northern California Boy Wins World Chess Championship

Twelve-year-old Daniel Naroditsky is the winner of the World Youth Chess Championships held in Antalya, Turkey.

Daniel, who lives in Foster City, California, competed with 160 kids to take the gold medal in the under-12 division on Wednesday.

When Daniel entered the competition, he was ranked 13th in the International boys division (girls are in a separate league).

For two grueling weeks, Daniel played a match every day, with some of the matches lasting four to five hours.He won nine games, lost one and played to a draw against the previous year's champion from the Ukraine. This incredible performance ensured him a place in the finals against a player from Russia, which took two hours to win.

Daniel began playing chess at six, learning from his father, who was trying to keep him occupied one summer. It didn't take Daniel long to become a much better player than his dad. He then started playing in competitions, beating out first graders easily, and a chess prodigy was born.

Daniel currently in sixth grade plays for a few hours every day and more on weekends. He is a member of the Chess Club in San Francisco. Besides being great at chess, Daniel is also a straight A student at school.

What's next for this amazing kid? - Well, it's back to school. He did get to take one day off, though!

Source: beyonchron.com