Ten-year-old Anjali Datta didn’t set out to become a champion on the international chess circuit.

She just wanted to beat her older brother, Deepyaman Datta.

“Almost everything I have learned, it was by watching my brother,” said Anjali, a sixth-grader at Quail Run School. “He has taught me a lot.”

She apparently watched her 12-year-old sibling well.

Anjali recently represented the United States at the World Youth Chess Championships in Crete. There, she surprised the international chess community with her prowess.

“I played 11 people, 11 rounds, 70 people in my section,” she said.

Datta beat the No. 1 players from the five countries that sent delegates.

She’s now the U.S. Chess Federation’s highest-rated player in the girls’ 10-and-under age group. She’s also ranked sixth in the girls’ 13-and-under category.

Her precision on the checkered board didn’t come easily. She practices 10 hours to 13 hours each week.

“Believe it or not, I spend more time studying than I do playing chess,” Anjali said.

Anjali has been a member of Quail Run’s chess club two years. She attributes part of her success to the club’s coach, Steve Robinson.

Anjali Datta, a sixth-grader at Quail Run School, recently returned from Crete where she performed well in international chess competition.

“I am very proud of her. She has done an excellent job getting to where she is in the country today,” Robinson said. “I started working with her just two years ago, and now she is able to teach others.”

Four years ago, Robinson also started coaching 12-year-old Deepyaman, now an eighth-grader at Southwest Junior High.

Deepyaman, too, has reaped his share of awards, winning the state tournament in both elementary and junior high. He also once was named national champion in the 11-and-under age group.

Deepyaman said he was proud of his sister.

“When she has questions, I am always happy to help her with them,” Deepyaman said, “I just want her to always go out and try her best.”

Parents Shraboni and Deepak Datta of Lawrence say they are delighted by their children’s achievements.

“We are so proud of both of our children,” said Deepak Datta. “They both work very hard, and for our son to have been so good for so long, and now our daughter to follow in his footsteps, is an honor.”

Both parents say they realize that for their daughter to compete at such a top level, a lot of extra training is needed.

“Many of the girls (that were) in Greece have actual chess coaches that work with them nearly six hours a day,” Deepak Datta said.

For Anjali, playing chess has opened many doors, allowing her to travel to places she said she might never have been able to visit. But, she said, her true loves were piano and tennis.

The Quail Creek chess club was started seven years ago by guidance counselor Harold Nelson. Today the club has nearly 60 students. Regular members meet once a week for an hour to practice. The master members meet twice a week for an hour and a half. They are taught how to study and memorize the game and are tested on various tactics.