Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Many are game for chess here

Special Correspondent

Participants of MCV tourney include GMs, IMs, a toddler and a 74-year-old farmer Participants of MCV tourney include GMs, IMs, a toddler and a 74-yr-old farmer

MAKING THE RIGHT MOVES: Seventy four-year-old Y. Nagaraju and 12-year-old B. Ajit testing their skill in the first MCV all-India FIDE rating tournament for CMR Cup in Visakhapatnam. - Photo: K.R. Deepak

VISAKHAPATNAM: The biggest chess tournament the city has witnessed so far brought to light one aspect -- that age is no bar to take up the game.

From a four-and-a-half-year-old boy to a 74-year-old farmer from a village near Anakapalle — some youngsters he trained sponsored his trip here — are participating in the Municipal Corporation of Visakhapatnam All-India FIDE Rating Tournament, being organised by the All-Vizag District Chess Association (AVDCA) at the Swarna Bharati Indoor Stadium. There are three Grand Masters, more than a dozen International Masters, including one from Zimbabwe, and FIDE Masters and dozens of good players among the 242 entries.

Those not rated too were not found wanting in enthusiasm. Some are bound to get a rating at the end of the tournament.

Fields to board

Coming back to the farmer, the brain game sparked interest in Yellapu Nookaraju some 20 years ago. "I watched two men of my village playing chess. I observed them for years, learnt the moves and other aspects of the game. I learnt the game on my own and then started playing."

Nookaraju has three sons and a daughter and after performing their marriages, he also found that he is not physically fit to continue farming.

He spent more time on the game and also started teaching the same to some boys in the village.

Clad in a short and a shirt with a towel over his shoulder, he is a typical farmer one comes across in the rural areas. But the interest in the game did not prevent him from participating in chess tournaments. He won prizes in some tournaments in Anakapalle and most recently at the Steel City Tournament, scoring seven points out of possible nine.

Nookaraju was keen to participate in the FIDE rating tournament here but he could not afford the cost, the youth trained by him sponsored the trip. Grahesh, a four-and-a-half-year-old boy from Rajahmundry, is the youngest player of the tournament and was initiated into chess by his father Y. Kalyan Kumar, a regular player.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Bracing up to become a world class port
Orissa House panel lauds functioning of Visakha Dairy
Many are game for chess here
Kalasrusti's Craft Bazaar inaugurated Craft Bazaar's opening today
Andhra Bank to set up 40 new ATMs
Coastal Andhra records deficient rainfall
Man held on charge of murdering student
`Jhansi Rani' cruises along
Lamps, flowers
Around the City
In Visakhapatnam Today

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu