Nouri falls short in Malaysia but emerges as top Philippines bet

MANILA, Philippines — Alekhine Nouri, who made heads turn when as a seven-year-old in 2013 he became the world’s youngest FIDE Master, is slowly but surely picking up the pieces.

Nouri, named after former world champion Alexander Alekhine of Russia, fell one win short of topping the Malaysian Chess Festival 2019 blitz event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last Sunday.

Nouri, who had gone up and down in recent years, finished fifth and emerged as the best-placed Filipino in the tournament.

The Grade 6 Far Eastern U-Diliman student, who will turn 14 in December, was tied for first with Russian International Master Zhamsaran Tsydypov after the eighth and penultimate round but lost to the latter in the ninth.

That sent Nouri to a tie for third with Iranian Grandmaster Ehsan Ghaem Maghami and Vietnamese IM Le Tuan Minh with seven points apiece. He wound up fifth overall.

It was one of the strongest performances by Nouri since he topped the USM 24th Chess Individual Open tournament in Penang, Malaysia last year.