Seven-year-old Jaisal Shah was on cloud nine when he along with other 16 children were conferred with the National Child Award this year on Children’s day by President Ram Nath Kovind.
A resident of Dadar, Jaisal is a class II student and an ardent fan of chess. Over the last two years, Jaisal has won many tournaments and was the only one to win the award from Maharashtra. Sharing the excitement, Jaisal's mother said that he started taking interest in chess after watching videos of Vishwanath Anand’s games.
He stumbled upon some posters and videos. We realized his interest and enrolled him for a class. He then began participating in tournaments. It was during one such tournament in July that state officials saw him and nominated him. We thought Jaisal was being interviewed for some media coverage but in fact, they considered him for the award. He is not even among the top chess players in the state but they identified his talent."
He along with others received a silver medal, cash prize of INR 10,000 and a certificate at a ceremony in New Delhi. This award is given to honour and celebrate exceptional achievements of children.
Jaisal is also known as a popular student, good with academics and has won International Rank 1 in the Maths and English Olympiad. He also shows interest in teaching his friends to play chess. Overall, 7-year-old Jaisal has won around 61 trophies so far.
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