At just the age of 8, Anaya Sharma has achieved something that one can only think of. The young chess player bagged a gold medal at the 2025 Commonwealth Chess Championship held in Kuala Lumpur. Anaya participated in the under-08 girl’s category and finished with a score of 8 out of 9 points after defeating some of the top-seeded opponents. After winning seven straight games, she lost the eighth round but then struck back again in the finals game to win the event.
A student of class IV from the Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet, the young gold medallist trains for around six to eight hours daily and five days a week at the Maestro Chess Academy under the coaching of Amitpal Singh and Girinath.
Through the support of her parents, Gaurav Sharma and Aarti Bolaki, and her school, her chess career began at the age of five when Anaya was in a summer camp in Kalpataru. Her mother, Aarti, revealed that during that camp she got attracted to the sport and refused to leave the chessboard for a long time.
“After trying different games, she didn’t get up from the chessboard for three hours. She was fascinated by it. Once she started producing results in local tournaments, district, state, and national level, we wanted her to pursue her passion as a career,” Anaya’s mother said.
Her coach, Girinath, also said that Anaya is focusing now to become a world champion and wants to achieve the Grandmaster title.
“She is good in the middle part. But she is also strong in the opening and endgame as well. I am sure in the next two years, she can achieve the GM title,” he said.
In addition to that, he also shared his opinion on Anaya, saying that she possesses great skills at her age and has the scope to become a top player in chess.
“For an eight-year-old, she has a very strong game. She is a quick learner and brilliant strategist. She has patience, grasping power, memory and is very focused, all ingredients of a top chess player.”
Ahead of the Commonwealth championship, Anaya played in the U-8 Chess World Cup held in Batumi, Georgia, in July and performed quite impressively at the Nationals. For Anaya, world champion D. Gukesh, Viswanathan Anand, and Divya Deshmukh are her idols. She has a strong middlegame that can counter the opponent’s strategies.
