During the 2024 Junior Championship Qualifier Tournament sponsored by Moo Milk, which was contested earlier this month, Mahir Rajkumar outplayed Italy Ton-Chung. I chose this game because the less formidable young players require exposure to become noticeable through their games.
Rajkumar (white) played effectively and should be congratulated for his effort. Ton-Chung made an error when she played 6…Bxf2+ thinking, perhaps, black could have won a pawn and prevented her opponent’s king from castling. The combination backfired when black realized her queen knight was en prise. White played sharply with the move 14. Nd5!, which demonstrated the beginning of a successful combination.
In international chess news, grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra was leading the Masters Triathlon in Biel, Switzerland at the time this column was being written. An elite tournament which consists of six contestants, Mishra defeated Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2747) and Sam Shankland (2683) to reach the top of the standings. Mishra is an American grandmaster who became the youngest grandmaster in history in 2021 at 12 years and four months. He has a FIDE rating of 2627. Rameshbabu’s 
sister Vaishali (2489) was also doing well in the Biel tournament. She had climbed to second place.
