Youngest Ever Belgian Chess Champion!
by John Bain
Daniel Dardha
Born October 1, 2005 in Belgium
Rated: 2424
At 13 years old, Daniel Dardha won the 2019 Belgian Chess Championship in Charleroi, Belgium–a 10-player Round Robin–finishing ahead of 3 Grandmasters!
Daniel Dardha became the 2019 Beligian Champion at the age of 13 years and 10 months–the youngest in Belgian history.
He tied for First Place with GM Tanguy Ringoir with 6/9 points, but was crowned the champion because Daniel had the larger number of wins.
His performance rating of 2483 gave him his 4th International Master (IM) norm. He received the IM title in September!
See Final Standings below, and look at the Grandmasters finishing below him!
Daniel Dardha at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City in 2015.
2019 Belgian Championship
Final Standings
Chess Runs in the Family
3 Generations of Chess Players!
A younger Daniel plays chess with his grandfather Bardhyl, while his father Arben watches.
Daniel inherited his passion for chess from his father and grandfather. His father, Arben Dardha, born in Albania, is a FIDE (International Chess Federation) Master and Daniel’s current coach.
Daniel’s Father
Politics thwarted Arben’s chess career.
Arben grew up in a communist regime that forbid travel abroad from his country of origin, Albania. He could access and play only 9 officially rated chess games a year–making chess progress very challenging.
Daniel’s Grandfather
Daniel’s grandfather, Bardhyl Dardha, started the chess tradition in the family. He coached both the ‘Tomori’ Chess Club in Berat, Albania as well as his son Arben.
Bardhyl follows Daniel’s games online. In addition, at 82 years old, he still plays chess online around 8 hours a day!
The Path to Grandmaster Can Begin Here
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Beginner’s Book – Chess Rules For Students
Chess Rules For Students is a workbook for students learning the game of chess and for beginning students returning to the game. No previous knowledge of chess is necessary. Parents unfamiliar with chess will find this booklet a valuable guide to their child’s new interest.
Chess Rules For Students is designed with students, coaches, and parents in mind. Reading level is appropriate for grade-school use. All major rules of chess are covered, and algebraic notation worksheets are included. Each page is in easy-to-use worksheet format.
A student-friendly Answer Key makes self-correction fun!
Beginners & Intermediate Book – Checkmate! Ideas For Students
Checkmate! Ideas For Students is a workbook for beginning and intermediate students. Checkmate! covers the tactics used in checkmate attacks with clear explanations, diagrams and arrows to pinpoint the key features.
Unlike many other basic checkmate books, Checkmate! categorizes the checkmates by the tactics used to force the checkmate–like Pins, Sacrifices, Removing the Guard, Attraction, Clearance and Attacking Flight Squares–rather than only the checkmate pattern itself.
The worksheets and Answer Key are clear and simple for the student to use, and easy for the parent, teacher and coach to correct! Fun!
Intermediate & Advanced Book – Chess Tactics For Students
Chess Tactics For Students is a workbook containing 434 carefully selected problems in worksheet format. Chess Tactics has been extensively field tested with elementary, middle-school, and high-school students over a four-year period.
This book is ideal for independent seat work as well as for homework and classroom instruction.
The worksheet format and Answer Key enable self-correction with minimal dependence or direct help from a chess teacher, coach, or parent.
