Photo: Supplied
A 14-year-old chess genius will represent New Zealand at the 2025 Commonwealth Chess Championship in Malaysia next month.
Tauranga teen Joshua Barnes has only played competitive chess for two years but has already won New Zealand's Junior Master title.
He told Midday Report he fell in love with the game at a young age.
"I really like how it works your brain, I'm really interested in strategy games," he said.
"I do quite a bit of practise, my dad taught me when I was a lot younger."
It didn't take long for Barnes to exceed his dad's skill level.
"Once I beat him [the first time] he stopped beating me," he said.
"[Now] I play online and there's also quite a few tournaments around the country."
Barnes said there was a big difference between playing online and in person.
"Yeah, quite [different]. It's not as big of a deal if you win or lose online," he said.
"If you're playing in tournaments they'll be FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) or NZCF (NZ Chess Federation) rated most of the time. Online it will have an online rating that doesn't really count towards anything."
The teenager also led his own club and taught others how to play.
"On Thursdays, we have our own club and I teach people from just starting through to playing in tournaments," he said.
Next month, Barnes and eight more chess players will travel to Malaysia to represent New Zealand on the world stage.
"I'll be playing in the under-16 open for the Commonwealth Championships. There's also eight others going along who will be playing in different categories, so I won't have to play any of them," he said.
"[I'm] a bit nervous and excited. I'm never really sure [how I'll do]... I like to just play the game."
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