Chess Olympiad 2024

'I play only for fun'

Eighty-one-year-old WIM Rani Hamid, who is fondly referred to as ‘grandma’ in the chess fraternity, was the second oldest woman chess player in the 45th Chess Olympiad after 83-year-old debutant Pauline Woodward of Guernsey. Hamid secured six wins in a row after skipping the first three rounds in Budapest, Hungary. The 20-time Bangladesh national women’s champion, three-time British Women’s Chess Champion, and Commonwealth Chess gold medalist, Hamid, talked about her experience, memories, and more during an interview with The Daily Star’s Anisur Rahman after the 10th-round matches. The excerpts of the interview are as follows:

September 23, 2024
September 23, 2024

'I play only for fun'

Eighty-one-year-old WIM Rani Hamid, who is fondly referred to as ‘grandma’ in the chess fraternity, was the second oldest woman chess player in the 45th Chess Olympiad after 83-year-old debutant Pauline Woodward of Guernsey. Hamid secured six wins in a row after skipping the first three rounds in Budapest, Hungary. The 20-time Bangladesh national women’s champion, three-time British Women’s Chess Champion, and Commonwealth Chess gold medalist, Hamid, talked about her experience, memories, and more during an interview with The Daily Star’s Anisur Rahman after the 10th-round matches. The excerpts of the interview are as follows: