2019 was the dream year of Nihal Sar, who was shortlisted for the Manorama Sports Star 2019 Awards. He is the youngest Indian to play in the Chess World Cup. The awards are presented by Malayala Manorama and Santa Monica Study Abroad Pvt. Ltd.
World champion Magnus Carlsen tweeted after watching Nihal’s defeat Azerbaijan’s Grandmaster Zafarly El Taj 37 in the first round of the second round of the Chess World Cup. The world of chess was shocked when the legendary Anatoly Karpov defeated the world champion for 16 years. 2019 is also the year that Nihal reached the milestone of 2600 Yellow Rating. He is the second youngest player in the world to achieve this feat. One of the highlights of 2019 was winning the Asian Continental Blitz Championship, which was attended by 20 Grandmasters. They did not lose a single match. Nihal clashes with former world number two Vasily Ivanchuk at the Lyon Masters Tournament in what has been hailed as the battle of generations. Nihal also defeated junior world champion Iranian Grandmaster Parham Magsudulu and four-time women’s world champion Chinese Grandmaster Huifan in 2019. Assoc. Professor Dr. A. Sarin and Psychiatrist Dr. Nihal, the son of Shijin A. Ummer, started playing chess at the age of five. She is a Plus One student of Thrissur Devmata Public School
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