11-year-old Hussain Besou will make his debut for the German national team very soon. A schoolboy from the Ruhr region will sit down at a chessboard in Croatia, where an international championship will be held in April. The Mitropa Cup is an annual team tournament in which national teams from Central Europe compete. The first tournament was held in Innsbruck in 1976. Hussein is the youngest chess player ever to play for Germany. In an interview with the German media, his mentor and coach of young chess players, Bernd Vökler, emphasized that the boy showed outstanding results.
In the world ranking of chess players in the age category under 12, Hussein currently ranks second. Being nominated for the German national team is a serious challenge for a young athlete. Five years ago, the boy came to Germany as a refugee. In his homeland, he liked to watch his father and grandfather play chess. The boy was fascinated by the game at a preschool age.
Despite his young age, Hussein is already a “grandmaster”: he has no equal at the chessboard. However, according to experts, the team from Germany has not so many chances of winning the team tournament: due to a conflict in the schedule, many leading chess players will not be able to take part in competitions in Croatia.