Zainab Saumy emerged victorious in the Under 2000 Women’s competition at the FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship held in Spoleto, Italy recently.
The tournament was organised by the World Chess Federation. Zainab’s achievement was second to none but this was the second world title win for Sri Lanka. The same title was previously won by a Sri Lankan in the year 2007.
The title win not only gives Zainab world status but lifts her to the number one spot in national rankings. A total of over 200 chess players from 50 countries participated in the tournament. Afshar Niusha from Iran won the second place and Kim Kristina from Kazakhstan finished third. Meanwhile, Zainab was only 16 when she won her 1st National Chess title scoring 10 points out of possible 13 points in 2016.