History Maker!

History was made at the Holiday Inn on Monday night, when the latest graduate from Paul's Coventry Chess Academy made his debut for KCC in the D team match against Leamington C. At around 6 years and 10 months of age, Anish Bijibilla took the step into the world of adult league chess with supreme ease, wrapping up a win over a 1327 rated opponent in under an hour and becoming the youngest ever player to win a game for Kenilworth! (And at the other end of the age spectrum, a stalwart of the CCA, Roy, was contributing the other point to the team in a 2-2 draw. Perfect symmetry!)

Anish gets ready to make his first move for Kenilworth, with comparative veteran Gregory in the background!

So sorry Billy, your record as our youngest winner, which stood at just over 7 years of age and has lasted since December 2018 when you were successful against Stratford D in Division 4, has been broken. (Which presumably means Jude has been pushed down to number 3!) I would be very surprised if there has been a younger winner for any other club in the history of the Leamington League - and especially not in Division 3.

Anish has had a fantastic couple of weeks, first scoring 6/7 in the Minor section of the Birmingham Rapid Play (including a win over LDCL veteran Kim Gilbert of Shirley who was born in 1945! - how's that for an age difference?!) and then just last weekend making 3/5 at the Nottingham Minor (standard play) against players all rated over 1400. No wonder Paul thought that Anish was ready for a competitive debut in the league - and how right he was. 

On the April ECF rating list Anish is the second ranked U-7 in England for both standard play and rapid play, and third for blitz, and when the above results are taken into account that could well change. Its no wonder that he has been selected to play for England in the World Cadet U-8s in Georgia later in the year (where he will begiving away a year to most of his opponents). 

It is a great pleasure and privilege for us to have Anish playing for KCC and I'm sure we all hope he will have a long and enjoyable time with our club. And he's a really nice lad as well! So a big Kenilworth welcome to him and his dad Nanda, and the rest of the family, and best wishes for what promises to be a very exciting chess journey.