Meet Minha Ayaz – Kashmir’s chess champion, making her mark at national level

Srinagar: Born in Srinagar Downtown’s Khanyar neighborhood, a 17-year-old girl is carving her name at the national chess championships.

Minha Ayaz, daughter of Ayaz Ahmed Wani, has lately grabbed attention of chess experts for  showcasing extraordinary talent at national level chess championships.

Being the only girl from Kashmir to qualify for under-19 national contests, Minha marked her achievement when she won all her individual matches at the 2023 Tamil Nadu National Chess Championship, and continued her winning streak at the 2024 National Under-19 Championship at Kolkata.

Speaking to Ziraat Times, Minha said she aspires for greater individual contests.

“We missed gold at the national championships because my individual wins didn’t count as  the parameter was state-level wins”, she said.

Minha is previously a three-time winner of state-level gold medals and has secured six inter-district gold medals.

Chess experts believe if coached and nurtured, girls like Minha have the talent to make a greater mark.

Chess enthusiasts believe that more and more youngsters, especially girls, from J&K should embrace Chess as a game and make a mark for themselves.

” Minha has set an example. J&K youngsters are generally not inclined to Chess. They should take more interest in this game as this is rewarding one”, says Tariq Firdous, a Chess enthusiast.