An 11-year-old from Colchester has represented Europe at a prestigious international chess tournament.

Mae Catabay, of Normandy Avenue, who attends St George’s School, has been playing chess since the age of five.

After finishing as the highest player of the English entrants in a tournament, Mae was asked to represent Europe in the Queen’s Blitz Festival Global Tournament in which players had to make moves in three minutes and two seconds.

Mae, who practices for at least three hours each day, has continued to enjoy strong academic results at school – much to the surprise of her father Michael Catabay.

“It’s a mystery to me,” he says, when asked about her school grades. “I was expecting her academic grades to go down.

“I can see only one link between their results and the chess. She scores highly because she plays chess.

“I always hear my daughter say that she makes very few mistakes in exams. I think the chess has really helped her in academic terms.”

With Mae improving at an exponential rate, is she approaching a level where she is capable of beating her father?

“I would still come out on top but if I make one mistake – that’s it," he said.

"We’ve had some practice lately and she beat me. If I make a mistake, I lose the game,” he says.