Nashlen giving the traditional champion's simultaneous on 10 June 2010,
from the left his opponents are Alf Kohler, Ray Pietersen and Shaun Savy

Nashlen was born in November 1996 and won the Durban championships in June 2010, making him at 13 years and 7 months the youngest ever Durban champion. He eclipsed the old record set by Royee Banai way back in 1997.

Nashlen learnt the game from his father Collin, who also taught the game to his older sister Seshni. I understand that his first national tournament was the under 10 RSA championships, held in December 2005 in Port Elizabeth, where he scored a creditable 6½ out of 9 (=5th place). He followed this up with 5/7 in the under 12 event in 2006 and 6/9 in 2007. Another score of 6½ out of 9 on his debut as an under 14 in 2008 was followed by 7/9 at Cape Town in 2009. This secured him 3rd place on tiebreak and a place in the SA Junior Closed held in Pretoria in March 2010.

At the SA Junior Closed Nashlen finished in 2nd place with 7/9 and thereby secured a place in the South African junior team for 2010. Nashlen's success at the Junior Closed and in the Durban Championships saw his rating jump from 1714 in March to 1844 in August 2010.

A win from the 2010 SA Junior Closed against the 1st placed player follows: