The Hindu : Sport / Chess : Administrators need to make some smart moves

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Thursday, May 08, 2008
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Administrators need to make some smart moves

P.K. Ajith Kumar

— Photo: Mahesh Harilal

G.N. Gopal.

KOZHIKODE: While C.H. Meghana’s triumph on Tuesday was only in the National under-9 chess championship, it cannot be dismissed lightly. Especially, when viewed in the context of the 2-3 finish, the State achieved at the National ‘A’ championship earlier in the year in Chennai.

K. Ratnakaran was the runner-up while G.N. Gopal finished third — the finest show ever by Kerala in the country’s premier domestic tourney. Now little Meghana’s victory in a championship for the second youngest age-group proves the State has the potential to produce champions. If there is a time for the administrators to wake up, it is now.

A serious effort has to be made to make more little children, and their parents, aware that it pays to play chess. It is time to recognise Gopal, Ratnakaran and Meghana for their achievements. Tournaments for youngsters have to be organised across the State frequently (not the kind of tournaments run by private academies whose primary aim is to give prizes to their students).

Training for children

The talented children have to be spotted early and given quality coaching (like the rest of the country, there is no dearth of chess trainers in Kerala, but at Rs. 200 per hour, not many can afford them). The Government needs to be convinced by the governing body of the need to support chess (Gopal, the State’s first, and only, Grandmaster (GM) has still to get any recognition, monetary or otherwise). Even the State association hasn’t felicitated Gopal for his GM title yet.

It hasn’t occurred to the State administrators that they could promote chess through Gopal. With something like a well-publicised simultaneous display by the teenaged GM with school kids, for instance. He would only be too glad to oblige, he has told this writer.

Gopal has made it because his parents were patient and willing to sacrifice his academics for chess once they realised his potential. They have no regrets now; their son is India’s seventh best player, he earns decent prize-money from domestic and international circuits and at 18, has got a job as a management trainee with a leading public sector company with a starting salary of Rs. 17,000.

It is early days yet, but Meghana too, like Gopal, seems to be on the right track — she had won the National under-7 championship — but she needs to be nurtured, and the responsibility lies not just with her parents. She requires all the encouragement from the administration and the Government, so that she could take up chess as a career, unlike Sasinas Haritha or K.M. Nizam, two talented youngsters who promised a lot before fading away.

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