His bronze is of greater value than gold

THREE YEARS ago, the 16-year- old K. Ratnakaran saw his world crumbling down before his eyes. Unable to find a way out of a debt trap, his father had committed suicide.

The teenager, still in school and numbed by the sudden loss of the single bread-earner of the house, thought that was about the end of his career in chess, even before it had taken off.

His family could no longer afford to send him out for tournaments, and his elder brother and sparring partner, Lakshminarayan, stopped playing chess altogether, forced to look after their late father's small shop that sells eggs.

But young Ratnakaran was not prepared to give in without a fight.

He can't even dream of a computer to practise chess, like most of his peers. He doesn't even own a BCO (Batsford Chess Openings) - which is to a chess player what gloves are to a batsman in cricket.

His State hasn't produced a single player of truly high quality. Sponsorship? You must be kidding.

There is no decent player in his city to test himself against. And now he doesn't even have a coach.

What he has in abundance is an indomitable spirit, and a talent to play chess. And now, a bronze medal at the Asian junior chess championship.

And that medal, which he won at Teheran recently, shines brighter than gold, you have to admit. Its glitter is enough to help him forget all the gloom around him, for the moment.

Sitting on the verandah of his house on the Jaffer Khan Road in Kozhikode - built in the traditional Kerala architecture (which went out of vogue long ago), in sharp contrast to the chic, concrete buildings in the neighbourhood - Ratnakaran still cannot believe that he has won a medal at an important international competition. That too in his maiden appearance in the international arena. ``It still looks a bit unreal,'' he says.

Nobody expected him to do that well, least of all himself. Of course the Indian boys were expected to dominate the Iran tournament, but Ratnakaran was not counted among them.

Much was expected from Pendyala Harikrishna - he won the silver, shockingly, when he should have walked away with the gold - S. Kidambi, Magesh Chandran and M. R. Venkatesh.

These guys were a lot better prepared than the Kozhikode lad. Much more experienced. And more blessed in life.

He would never forget that afternoon in Teheran, when Kidambi told him, ``You have won the bronze.''

``I wondered whether he was joking,'' he recalls. ``Because I thought Venkatesh, who played great chess in the tournament, would win the bronze. And he looked like winning his last round too, but he lost. My better score in the tie-break helped me finish third.''

But no one would grudge Ratnakaran's moment of glory. Not even the perennially unlucky Venkatesh. Because he earned it the hard way. If he is lucky, then so is Goran Ivanisevic.

It was a fine show, especially for someone seeded 13th. He had began poorly, with just one point from the first three rounds.

``I was feeling very low, and was relieved that I was able to get off the mark at least,'' he says.

But in the next eight rounds, he scored 6.5 points, without a single loss, as he took on some of the best players in the competition with great courage and conviction.

And none of those draws against the top players was a free point; he had to fight for each of them.

He had drawn with the top seed Harikrishna, the second seed Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, the fifth seed Nguyen Thanh Son of Vietnam, who went on to win the championship and in the crucial last round he outwitted Mohamed Al Syed of Qatar, who was seeded tenth. He was playing the best chess of his career.

And his, like the Madurai girl M. Kasturi's, (girls champions at Teheran) was a special entry. Only the top two from the National junior championship are eligible normally for the Asian and World events. But, at Hyderabad, Ratnakaran had finished third.

``I am grateful to the All India Chess Federation secretary Mr. P. T. Ummer Koya, who fielded me as a special entry at Teheran,'' he says.

He says the contributions of the Kerala Sports Council coach, M. D. Antony, and International Master (IM) Varghese Koshy, who trained him prior to the Asian junior championship, were also significant to his success.

He was taught chess by his father when he was five. Late K. Vasudevan, who served the Indian Air Force for 16 years before turning a businessman, had great passion for the game, though he knew nothing scientific about it. ``He was quite a good player though he did not know any theory,'' recalls Ratnakaran.

He began to take part in local tournaments, and soon started winning them. He claimed his first State title in 1995, the under-14 championship, and when he won his maiden men's `A' title at Kozhikode recently that was his eighth triumph in a State championship.

He was indeed a revelation at Teheran, because he had hardly done anything spectacular in the National competitions.

He was third in the National under-25 championship in Bangalore last year. That, besides the third spot in the National juniors, was all, he had to show.

Ratnakaran has still a lot of working to do on his game before he can aspire for higher things, especially in the openings (though his preparations in French Defence do look impressive).

His strength lies in the middle game. Tactically strong, he can come up with some imaginative combinations. What he needs is sustained hard work, and a good coach (when he came back from Teheran he learnt that his coach had been transferred to another city).

Qualifying for the National men's `A' championship is his immediate aim (Kerala hasn't had a representative at India's most prestigious domestic championship for many years).

``And I want to play in the Goodricke International GM tournament,'' his eyes light up.

``I know it's not the ultimate thing for a chess player, but I don't know why, it has been a dream ever since I was a kid.''

And of course, he would love to be Kerala's first IM. But he has to find a job soon, to ease the pressure on the family a bit. He will start looking for that after he completes his B. Com from the Government Art's College, Kozhikode, next year.

His family has not yet been able to wipe off the huge debt they inherited. But, on the positive side, Lakshminarayan, who was called the most promising Kerala player by IM Manuel Aaron three years ago, has started playing again. He finished runner up to his brother at the State men's `A' championship this year.

``I hope now he will be able to help me with the game once again,'' says the younger sibling, even as he prepares to leave for Greece to play in the World junior championship.

Ratnakaran's is a saga of courage under fire. And it has just begun.

P. K. AJITH KUMAR

Kozhikode

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