National chess champion FIDE Master (FM) Manon Reja Neer narrowly missed out on attaining the title of International Master (IM) after finishing second in the Under-18 Open Group of the 7th Western Asian Youth Chess Championship in Sri Lanka today.

Neer, who was the champion in the recently concluded Bangladesh National Chess Championship, secured his second International Master norm from the same championship but the 18-year-old could not live up to expectations in the Asian Youth Championships and failed to secure the title of IM.

Photo: Collected

Neer, the highest-rated player of the tournament, started brilliantly to go joint-top, courtesy of consecutive wins in the first two rounds but he stumbled by drawing four matches out of the remaining seven and had to be content with a runner-up finish (with seven points) as FM Erzhan Zhakshylykov of Kyrgyzstan became champion with 7.5 points, attaining the IM title.

In the Under-14 Open Group, however, Candidate Master (CM) Sakline Mostafa Sajid achieved the FM title after winning the competition.

Sajid, reigning champion of Sheikh Russel National Under-20 Chess Championship 2023, drew with Nurmukhammed Kabinazar of Kazakhstan in the ninth and final round to become the unbeaten champion with seven points from nine matches. 

"Sakline has earned the FM title by becoming champion in Under-14 Open Group but Neer had a good chance to achieve IM norm but he missed out on the opportunity as he finished second in the Under-18 Open Group," Bangladesh Chess Federation executive member Mahmuda Molly said.

"Neer came here with a target to secure the IM title but he could not keep his consistency because he played two rounds with a fever. Besides that, he might also be a bit exhausted after playing several tournaments back-to-back."

Neer, however, will have another shot at securing the IM title when he will participate in the Asian Youth Under-20 Chess Championship, starting in Colombo on Tuesday. Sakline and Wadifa Ahmed will also take part in the tournament.

Despite the missed opportunity, Neer did not finish the tournament without a medal as he won bronze in the Blitz tournament, while Warsia Khusbu grabbed a silver medal in the Blitz Under-12 group.