Lebanon’s young women are redefining chess

Chess is often described as a game of strategy, but at its core, it is a test of patience, discipline, focus, and decision-making. Played for more than 1,500 years across cultures and generations, the game pushes players to think critically under pressure, anticipate consequences, and adapt in real time.

Three remarkable Lebanese young girls, Skye Attieh, Jessica Kobeissy, and Nadia Kassem Fawaz, each at a different stage of a rising career, are competing, and winning, at the highest levels of international play. Habib Khalil, Vice President of the Executive Board of the Lebanese Chess Federation, spoke exclusively to The Beiruter about their extraordinary rise.

Chess in Lebanon has long been a game played in the shadows, quietly competitive, rarely celebrated. That is changing. A new generation of young women is emerging from Lebanese clubs and classrooms, and they are not simply participating on the world stage. They are placing, winning, and making history.

Skye Attieh, 11: The girl who outscored everyone in Budapest

When Lebanon's delegation arrived at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, few expected that the player finishing with the highest national score, 5.5 points from 10 rounds, would be a ten-year-old girl. That player was Skye Attieh, who also became the youngest participant at the entire Olympiad.

The performance earned her the title of Woman Candidate Master, making her one of only four girls her age in the world to hold it at the time. Her record leading up to Budapest was equally striking: a tied 8th-place finish at the World Youth Championship in the Under-8 category, Lebanon's best-ever result at the World Championship, and 7th place at the Asian Youth Championship, again the country's best result in that competition's history.

Wael Attieh, Skye’s father, tells The Beiruter, “Hard work will propel you beyond your dreams.”

Today, Skye is ranked 3rd in the world in rapid chess for her age group, and holds the distinction of being the youngest player in Lebanese history to win the Women's Rapid Chess Championship, a title she claimed at just ten years old.

Jessica Kobeissy: From watching her brother to playing the world

Jessica Kobeissy's chess story began at five and a half, watching her older brother move pieces across a board. Within months, she had entered her first national competition. She won it.

After claiming the Lebanese National Under-6 Championship in 2023, Jessica went on to win the Lebanese Standard Championship Under-8 Girls title in both 2024 and 2025. She has since competed in the senior Lebanese Women's Chess Championship against older, more experienced players, finishing 9th in the classic edition and 10th in rapid, results that speak for themselves given her age.

On the international stage, she represented Lebanon at the 2025 FIDE World Cadet Championship, placing 12th among more than 80 players from around the world.

Nadia Kassem Fawaz: A standout in Lebanese youth chess

A 10th-grade student at Lycée Pascal Anout and member of Ahli Saida Club, Nadia Kassem Fawaz has built the most extensive competitive record of the three, spanning Lebanon, the Arab world, and beyond. "Nadia has been winning national titles since Under-10," Khalil says. "She has competed at two Chess Olympiads, won Arab championships, and carries the flag for Lebanese women's chess at the highest levels."

Her domestic titles alone trace nearly a decade of dominance: national champion at Under-10, Under-12, Under-16, and Under-20, with multiple Best Female awards at the Lebanese Chess Championship and back-to-back Classic and Rapid national women's titles in 2023-24.

Regionally, she won gold at the 2022 Arab Youth Under-12 Championship in Syria, bronze at the Arab Youth Under-14 Championship in Iraq in 2021, and the 2025 Arab Women Blitz Online Championship.

Internationally, she has represented Lebanon at the Chess Olympiad in both Chennai (2022) and Budapest (2024), competed at the World Cadet and World Youth Championships, and played in major open tournaments from Abu Dhabi to Albania.

In a statement, Nadia’s father Kasem Fawaz tells us, “Despite her success, her journey has been shaped by difficult conditions. Limited funding and lack of institutional support have meant that most of her participation in international tournaments has been self-funded. Travel costs, accommodation, and logistics often make competition abroad difficult, with each trip lasting around 10 days and costing approximately $1,500, posing a significant barrier to consistent international exposure.”

He continues, “Yet, through chess, she has also traveled to more than 15 countries, gaining international exposure from a young age. She even received a full scholarship through UWC Lebanon to study in New Mexico, and is expected to continue her education in the U.S.

The future of Lebanese chess

Across different tournaments, ages, and playing styles, these young Lebanese players are steadily building something bigger than individual results. Each of them carries a different story, of early beginnings, long hours of training, and moments of pressure that most children their age never experience, but they converge on a shared reality: Lebanon is producing a new generation of chess talent that is beginning to register far beyond its borders.

In every match, whether at home or abroad, they are expanding what is expected, and what is possible for young players coming out of Lebanon. And while the numbers and titles matter, what lingers more is the sense that this is still only the beginning of their story.