News server Dobrénoviny.sk reports 11-year-old chess player Agáta Berková is achieving unprecedented success in competition and has even played Russian chess grandmaster Anatoly Karpov to a draw after being trained by her father who, along with his chess team called "Hrochotskské jezdci" ("The Hippopotamus Riders"), has broken the stereotypical belief that Roma cannot play chess. Berková is a native of the Slovak town of Poltár, and her love of chess reportedly dates to the first time she sat behind a chessboard at the age of a year and a half.
Berková is being trained by her father Milan Berko, who is a single parent. He also shares his chess skills with other local children learning chess.
Most of the children Berko teaches are Romani. The skill gives them the prospect of a better future than they would most likely expect in life.
