Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

He surges towards the top with no laptop

Shastry V. Mallady

To play in Spanish League

J. Deepan Chakkravarthy. —

MADURAI: After Viswanathan Anand, Sasikiran and Harikrishna, this chess champion from Madurai will be the fourth from India to take part in the prestigious Spanish League Tournament at Madrid later this month.

Following this are several other international championships in Switzerland, Poland and Armenia lined up for this Grand Master, J. Deepan Chakkravarthy. Like any sportsperson from a middleclass family, this B.Com final year student is hunting for more sponsors.

This chess champion from Thiagarajar College here got the opportunity to represent ‘Salvay Club’ in the League, in which 12 clubs will take part.

“Though faced with constraints, my family members encourage me. What is missing for me is a good laptop to replace my old one,” Mr. Chakkravarthy said on Saturday.

Recently, he won the second edition of National-level ‘Chess for Youth Championship’ at Kolkata and is also the runner-up at National A Championship.

“The Spanish League is an important tournament, which the world chess fraternity watches carefully,” he said.

“Already I am a Grand Master and it is more important to have a laptop with a good configuration that suits my game, which costs Rs.1,05,000.”

A proud mother, Murugeswari, said the family felt encouraged when Viswanathan Anand called us to congratulate Mr. Chakkravarthy. “Sponsors’ support for chess is more in Andhra Pradesh. If we get a similar support in Tamil Nadu, more champions will emerge,” she said.

After starting to play at the age of six, Mr. Chakkravarthy has come a long way by making the right moves. A suitable laptop may help him go places.

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