THREE Monmouth youngsters are preparing to spend Christmas in the Middle East.
Nyasha Katsande, 13, of Monmouth School, Stephanie du Toit, 11, of Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls, and Alice Tang, 11, of Inglefield House, will take on the best chess players in the world after qualifying for the prestigious World Youth Chess Championships 2013.
The trio will fly out to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates ahead of the competition, which begins on December 17, after successfully competing for Wales in junior home internationals against Scotland and England, alongside James Baker and Jamie Bell-Thomas from Monmouth School.
The World Youth Championships attracts 1,640 players from 95 countries around the world.
They will take part in 11 rounds over 10 days.
Last year in Maribor, Slovenia, a record was achieved with 1,584 players from 91 countries.
Meanwhile, the Grange chess team has just enjoyed two back-to-back successes.
The most recent was after competing against 10 schools in the National Schools Tournament for under 11s at Magdalen College School in Oxford when they qualified for the national finals to be held at Uppingham, Rutland, in July 2014.
The boys are looking forward to this hard-fought yet friendly tournament, which is staged in the best tradition of schools chess.
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