Rising chess star, Reddy earns WCM title
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday November 24, 2025 06:00
A reserved individual, she began her chess career at the young age of six, when it started as a hobby.
“I have never liked any other sport. I only had an eye for chess because it teaches life skills, such as strategising and patience,' she explains.
She names the knight as her favourite piece on the board due to its unique ability to jump over other pieces, which makes it excellent for launching sneaky and unpredictable attacks, such as forks and other double attacks.
“I prefer the e4 move because it takes control of the centre,” she notes. The e4 move is the most popular and strongest opening move for White because it stakes a claim in the centre of the board and opens diagonals for the queen and king’s bishop.
Born 14 years ago in India, Reddy made her debut for Botswana's junior team during the African Youth Chess Championship, where she won a silver medal in the Under-12 category.
She also won the 2025 International Chess Interactions Cadets Tournament, where she was crowned the Under-16 Open section champion.
Reddy's role model is Judit Polgár, a Hungarian chess grandmaster, widely regarded as the strongest female chess player of all time.
She is the only woman to be ranked in the world's top 10, as well as the only woman to achieve a rating of over 2700.
Polgár is also the only woman to compete in the final stage of a World Chess Championship. Reddy lists her coach, Masole, as her other role model.
Her coach is Vincent Masole of Chess Interactions Club, who says he started coaching Reddy from scratch and talked about the basics of the game.
Masole explains that he did not anticipate that one day they would be where they are today.
He adds that starting from the beginning with a child, getting her over 1800 rating and into the elite side of chess, is something special.
“I did not see it coming; I did not dream about it. We just put in the work, and here we are. As a coach, you do not plan for this; you put in the work, and as you continue, you realise that there is a special talent. It was a huge struggle to reach the 1800 rating; at one point, she wanted to quit. I remember at one point she was at 1798 rating, and all we needed were two points for her to get the title.
“Unfortunately, she did not do well in the next tournament and dropped 45 points; she was demoted, and her parents were demoralised. That was where I was needed as a motivator,” he recalls.
Masole reveals that that Reddy went to Egypt to get the conditional WCM title, after which they needed to get to the 1800 rating, which they had been chasing for a long time.
He says it is exciting times for him, as Reddy is his first student to have a title.
The coach notes that the achievement means he should also empower himself, as his student keeps going higher. Masole said they are now preparing Reddy for the Africa Youth Games in Harare, to go for a 1900 rating and to aim for the WIM title.
Career Highlights
2025 BCF Youth Chess Championship U-14—Gold Medal 2025 Cracking Series International Chess Challenge (Women's Section)—fifth place 2025 Metropolitan National Chess Championships Finals (Women’s Section)—fourth place 2024 African Youth Championship U-14—Bronze Medal 2023 African Youth Championship U-12—Silver Medal 2023 Elite Besa Masaiti International Junior Chess Championship U-12—Gold Medal 2023 BCF National Youth Chess Championship—Gold Medal 2023 Second International Youth and Cadets Chess Championship U-16 Girls—Gold Medal 2023 Botash Open Chess Championship—Open Section (January 2024) 2023 Metropolitan National Chess Championship (Ladies’ Section)—Qualified for Finals SCSA Individual Chess Championship—Gold Medal Third International Youth and Cadets Chess Championship U-16 Boys —Gold Medal 2022 Interschools Chess Challenge—Gold Medal Fourth International Youth and Cadets Chess Championship U-16 Boys—Gold Medal Debswana Youth Chess Championship—Gold Medal ISSA Youth Chess Championship U-14—Gold Medal High Commission of India, Gaborone U-10—Gold Medal Hilltop Chess Championship—Gold Medal
Fact File
Full names: Nalamalpu Eesha Reddy Date of birth: September 24, 2011 Place of birth: India Profession: Student Sport: Chess Favourite move and piece: e4 and knight