Chess queen Anika is up for Scottish challenge

Champ, 11, has right moves

- By Richard Elias

A SCHOOLGIRL who learned to play chess before she could read has scooped a major prize.

Eleven-year-old Anika Munshi has been crowned the 2025 Scottish Girls Primary Chess Champion.

Her love of the game came after years of watching her elder brother, Aryan. He is also a Scottish chess prodigy who has competed for his country and in pro-tournaments.

Anika, from Glasgow, recalled: "When I was a baby, my parents used to take me in the pram to my brother's tournaments.

"By the time I was two and a half, I knew the names of all the pieces.

"My brother started properly teaching me when I was five."