Barely a year into moving pawns and knights, Saara Jain clinched her biggest prize as yet by claiming the silver at the World Open School Chess Championship held at Iasi in eastern Romania.

"I am glad that I won the silver medal. I enjoyed the event and loved Romania a lot. It is a beautiful country," gushed the Class II student of Carmel Junior College, who returned to the steel city on Wednesday.

The World Open School Chess Championship, held between April 22 and April 29, is approved by FIDE (Federation Internationale des Echecs or World Chess Federation). And Saara, who turned seven in March, was part of a 20-member Indian team that competed in Under-7, Under-9, Under-11, Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 age groups.

Saara, who won the district chess championships in both the Under-7 (December 2016) and Under-9 (March 2017), was the lone representative from Jharkhand. She took part in world meet in the Under-7 category and received a medal, a trophy and 30 Euros for her exploits across the table. Her opponent was Romania's Sida Slavia in the blitz category of the championship.

Saara's father Arvind Jain, a chartered accountant by profession, accompanied her to Romania along with wife Dimple.

"It was an exposure trip for our daughter and she has done well. We feel very satisfied with her progress in chess," he said, explaining the two formats that the tournament was played in. "The two formats were classical and blitz. While classical was spread over three hours, blitz had a 5-minute duration for each of the seven rounds. Saara won 3 against Slavia's 4," added the resident of Syndicate Colony in Kadma.

Dimple, who is an architect, said Saara concentrated hard on her moves during the short duration rounds. "In fact, she played very well. We are very happy about her achievement," she said.

Saara's coach A.K. Singh was more than satisfied with her performance. "Saara is a quick learner and makes her moves intelligently. She has the qualities of becoming a good chess player in future. I am proud of her," he said.

Arvind said they were naturally very keen to see their daughter take to chess seriously. "But unlike in the South, chess culture has not really developed in Jamshedpur. Yet, the presence of Dibyendu Barua in Jamshedpur is a positive sign. He can play a vital role in promoting the game," he added, referring to the Grandmaster's recent transfer from Calcutta to the Tata Steel sports wing in Jamshedpur.

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