BROOKFIELD, Wis.—  The gaming world has seen a shift from board games to video games in recent years, especially with the rise in e-sport competitions. One Brookfield-area high school junior has found herself focussing on a classic.

When Simran Bhatia was five years old, her mom bought her a five in one board game set. The one she was looking forward to most, was chess.

“I wanted to see how you played this one particular game, which was chess.” Brookfield Academy junior, Bhatia said.

Her mom was the one who bought her the board game set, however she didn’t know how to play chess. But that didn’t last long.

“So she learned off the Youtube video, like at the same time I did, and we first she was the first one who taught me how to play," Bhatia said.

Soon enough, Bhatia was playing chess with her dad, who knew how to play.

“I always lost. Every time I played with him, especially in the beginning when I was like six years old,” Bhatia said.

While her dad started out winning most matches, soon it was Bhatia on top. Her dad can no longer beat her.

“Not anymore; not even close,” Bhatia said.

There's good reason for that. After playing and practicing non-stop, Bhatia kept getting better. She started playing in tournaments, traveling across the country.

“I’ve traveled to places like Fl​orida, to New Jersey” Bhatia said.

This past summer, she won the Wisconsin girls state chess championship, and went on to the national girls tournament of champions in July. She took 10th place in that competition.

“I felt really accomplished. And I never thought that I was going to get into the position where I would be playing in national tournaments, especially with chess. I mean, I didn't know that this was going to be such a big part of my life.” Bhatia said.

Co-captain of the Brookfield Academy Chess Club, Krish Sharma, said he is glad to have Bhatia on his team.

He said having a player like her at Brookfield Academy gets people excited to learn and try and beat one of the best.

“A  lot of people are starting to actually take chess a little bit more seriously now, so I definitely think that played a big role," Sharma said.

Bhatia said she hopes her success goes to show that even a more than 1,500 year old game can find new life with the next generation of players.