At a tender age, Alana Meenakshi not only plays the cerebral game called chess but also excels in it. Living in Visakhapatnam she has not only made the city but also Andhra Pradesh and India proud by becoming the world number one in Under 11 girls chess.

This was declared by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) ratings of May. Meenakshi became number one with an ELO rating of 1,829 and is the only Indian player who figured in 10 top rankings in the U-11 category.

Megan Althea, the United States player slipped to second position with 1,811 ELO points.

#SouthWithSudha | It was stressful for me but like it's said if you want to achieve something, you have to go through a lot: 10-year-old U-10 World Chess Medalist Alana Meenakshi speaks to India Ahead@kitaab31 @chesscom @Media_SAI @vishy64theking @vishy64theking @Anurag_Office pic.twitter.com/8XXiCa0TGH

— India Ahead News (@IndiaAheadNews) December 3, 2021

Before this Meenakshi was world number 2 in the U-10 category. She is a woman candidate master now and will focus on being the woman FIDE master with a series of tournaments, including the world chess championship shifted to India from Russia because of the ongoing war.

Alana started playing international chess in 2018 when she was seven. She won gold in the Asian schools U-7 championship. Earlier, she won gold in the Indian nationals U-10 girls championship conducted by the All-India Chess Federation in July last year.

Talking about Meenakshi, her coach said she was focused on achieving her dreams.