Grandmaster in the making has all the right moves
DEVELOPING a knack for chess from the age of 4, Kaedan Govender has taken his love for the game to a global level.
At just 9 years old, the Grade 3 Crawford Preparatory La Lucia pupil, who lives in uMhlanga, has won several international and local tournaments. He recently took the number one spot at the South African Chess Championships in his age division.
The little chess champion took gold at last year’s tournament and also represented SA on the international stage three years ago when he was placed first in the African Schools Chess Championships. For this he was awarded the title of Candidate Master by Fide, an international organisation that connects the various national chess federations around the world and acts as the governing body of international chess competition.
Kaedan attributes his success to many hours of hard work and hopes one day to achieve the Grandmaster title.
His mother, Vimla, said: “We are super proud of our little boy and are definitely there to support him.”
Eric Takawira, president of the KZN Chess Association and Kaedan’s coach at Crawford College La Lucia, praised Kaedan for his hard work and his dedication to the game.
“He works hard and we as a province are very proud of his achievements. He is indeed an inspiration to others.”
Apart from chess, Kaedan loves playing the piano and hopes to be a scientist one day.