'Beginner' wins top junior title, eyes open crown next

Just four months after learning to play the game of Othello in 2022, Calvin Koh Ding Sheng competed in his first World Othello Championship and placed a respectable seventh out of 20 in the junior category that year.

- Joel Chang

Since then, the Singaporean teenager has gone from strength to strength, finishing runner-up in the last two years before emerging victorious in Ankara, Turkey on Nov 15 to become the Republic’s first world youth champion in the board game.

Also known as Reversi, Othello is a mind sport in which two players take turns placing black or white discs on a board. The aim is to sandwich the opponent’s pieces between your own so that you can flip the discs to your colour. The winner is the player with more discs of their colour when the board is full.

With the world championship pitting competitors of all ages against one another, Calvin's record of seven wins and six losses saw him earn the second-highest score among 20 players under the age of 18. He was also 31st overall in the standings.

That earned the 16-year-old a place in the juniors’ semifinals, where his opponent, Misheel Altanshagai of Mongolia, conceded a walkover. Advancing straight to the final, Calvin defeated China’s Chen Xuanrui 35-29 to clinch the juniors’ title.