Being a chess player has made me the type of person that I love – National Junior Chess Champion Saeed AliReigning national junior chess champion, Saeed Ali, is grateful for how being a chess player has helped to mould him into a better person.
The former Queen’s College student shared that the level of tolerance that he has learned from chess is something that he has been able to utilize in varying other aspects of his life.
“Being a chess player has made me the type of person that I love. There is nothing that bothers me and I could wait a 100 years for something because it has taught me patience and patience means discipline. And without discipline you’re not your real.self.” Ali said with a smile.
“Chess is the best activity to get in during curricular time. If you like fighting and you like winning a battle and like being outstanding than others get a chess board and fight your war.”.
It was the serene nature of the game that first attracted him to it. Saeed used to watch on intrigued as his grandfather submerged in the game. So when he was twelve years old he began playing.
“Before someone should consider whether or not to be a chess player the most important skill they should have is being patient and being calm about things even in the hardest situations. Patience tells you if you are smart enough to withhold a chess career.” He commented.

Saeed has always enjoyed the opportunities that being a national chess player afforded him.
“The thing I love most about being a chess player is that it makes you get to travel the world and see many different places and many other cultures; and having a chess background and going anywhere in the world you will always have a heads up above other competitors, like example when you apply for a job,” He noted
As he began getting better he saw himself being selected to represent Guyana on the chess team at the trination Inter Guiana Games. He was also representing his first alma mater, Richard Ishmael at several tournaments locally.
However his love for the game though the aspiring physician took a two year break in 2013 to focus more on his academic pursuits.
Ali says the break was very much necessary, because despite chess being only a battle of wits, Ali says, it requires just as much dedication and focus just as much as being involved in sport.
That’s why Ali was just yearning to get back into the game, and determined to capture his first national title when he did so. And when the 19 year old entered the National Junior Chess Championships last month he finally achieved his goal.
Now the budding entrepreneur has his eyes set of higher heights – the World Junior Chess Championships to be exact. Since he’s 19 Saeed only has one more year in the junior category. So he’s determined to make his 2017 year counted.