One up and coming journalist has stepped forward and written a short article for the VJCL Newsletter. Keep your eyes open in the papers for her name, 13-year-old Catherine  Kladakis was the winner of the “Herald-Sun” Junior Journalist competition with an article about David Cordover.

by Catherine Kladakis
Checkmate! Checkmate! Can you hear
those words blasting through your ears?
Well, they are coming straight from
Thilini Basnayake’s lips. She’s bold,
she’s brainy and she’s the big, bad
chess wolf, coming to blow you all
down! Hang onto the hairs on your
chinni chin chin all you guys in the
under-twelve division, Thilini’s here!
This brand new champion was born in
Sri-Lanka, ah, the land of the rising
sun. Are you thinking how she could talk perfect English? She visited Australia
two years ago, and arrived again
at the beginning of this year.

Thilini was introduced to chess two years ago by her parents. “They gave me lots of encouragement.”

She’s won six chess titles this year

(including Victorian Under 12 Champion) and is intending to win more in the future. “I hope to be a chess champion”, she remarked, weaving her Sri-Lankan accent through her voice.

She used to play chess while living in her home country. “There was more competition over there.” Thilini was one of the best in her age-group in Sri Lanka.

“I’d like to keep doing chess. I don’t know about the future, but I’d like to d0 my best.”, said a very determined Thilini.