Phlipppine chess whiz kid, 7, youngest Fide master

Manila Philippines - Meet Alekhine Nouri. At 7 years old, he is the Philippines’ youngest chess master, having won a key World Chess Federation-sanctioned competition for his age group last month in Thailand.

“I’d like to play Sergey Karjakin,” Alekhine told The Wall Street Journal, referring to the world’s youngest child to win a “Grandmaster” title at 12 years and seven months old. “I want to be a super [Grandmaster],” added Alekhine, who was named in honor of Alexander Alekhine, one of the world’s greatest chess players who became the fourth World Chess Champion in 1927.

Alekhine’s father, Hamed, and mother, Roda, decided in December to move their family–Alekhine has an older brother–from Escalante City in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental to metropolitan Manila to give the 1st grader a better chance at developing his potential. Within six months, Alekhine became a FIDE Master—the highest norm Alekhine can earn in age group competitions–and was granted an athletic scholarship by the Far Eastern University FEU.PH -2.00% in Manila as a member of the school’s elementary chess team.