Talent nipped in the bud

By V. V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD, SEPT.24. They chose to follow the route to stardom shown by the success stories of Koneru Humpy and Pentyala Harikrishna. But, the dreams of the parents of the five young players - Dasari Minu, Mekhala Abhinav, Maturi Hemamadhuri, Haricharan and Kasipeta Sekhar - lay in tatters by the evening after that ghastly accident.

If they were thought to be the hopes of the future by virtue of the abundance of talent, fate decreed otherwise, as it snatched away the five players, who were accompanying their coach P.D.S. Girinath for the FIDE-rated tournament to commence from Monday at Puri.

Dasari Minu, the seventh standard student from Ongole, was considered to be very good in middle and end-games. But, the end- game in life came much earlier than anyone could have even dared to think of. She hailed from a district, Ongole, which has only one rated player - Amarnath.

But, that dubious distinction was enough to spur on a kid who was fascinated to chess at the age of three. The surprise she threw on her mother, Ranikumari, by asking for a chess board as gift on her third birthday, was the first clear hint she gave to the family members of her love for the 64-square board. But her father, Dhananjay, was initially adamant about the kid taking up chess and insisted on her studies.

Shortly, much to the mother's delight, they could spot a gentleman, Mr.L. Shambu, who came to Ongole from Vizag with a reasonable chess background, and began to coach her. Later, Amarnath got in touch with the chess prodigy. He was quick to spot the talent and quite modestly suggested her to be sent to Andhra's best known player - P.D.S. Girinath in seniors' category.

Her first major event was the October 1999 Junior state championship where she finished fifth and in the Calicut Rapid Nationals with 12th place. At that time, the emphasis was on exposure rather than on winning. These two events gave a fair idea as to where she stood and to the credit of the parents, Minu continued her march with some decent, if not extraordinary, performances. Her best in 1999 was the fourth place in the National (under-9) and then asserted her supremacy with the State championship title in Vijayawada.

Minu, a good learner

What clearly separated Minu from the rest of the crowd was her innate urge to learn and the coaching stint offered by the AICF to budding stars during the Wipro Grandmasters event in Hyderabad last year was just what she badly needed.

Then the most decisive move was made when Amarnath took her to the tutelage of Girinath in July 2000 and the results were there for all to see. She won the girls under-12, under-14 boys' titles in State championship in Hyderabad soon.

After gradual progress, Minu was placed second in the National under-9 championship in December, 2000. The youngest daughter in the family of two sisters and one brother, Minu was widely tipped to be the next big hope from Andhra alongwith Ramyakrishna and Dronamvalli Harika to emulate Humpy's feats.

``Without doubt they were the source of inspiration for a lot of players from Andhra,'' Minu had said during a recent chat with `The Hindu'.

While the parents were justifiably delighted at the big strides Minu was making at the Asian level by clinching the title in the Bikaner Asian youth championship (under-10), Girinath was determined to be the first one from Telangana to coach a world champion.

He, in fact, analysed 100 openings for Minu before the Asian youth meet and recalls the impressive win of Minu against Vietnamese girl Kin Tu Yen in the sixth round game of that event. ``Normally, players get perplexed when the opponent opts for Qb6 in advanced French Defence after the early moves. But, Minu showed remarkable maturity and intelligence to find the loopholes and with clever manoeuvre of pieces wrapped up the game in 38 moves,'' Girinath recalled only recently.

Minu's favourite player was Viswanathan Anand. And sadly, tragedy struck the same evening the FIDE World Champion arrived here. Now, the very purpose of shifting base from Ongole by her parents, ostensibly to promote Minu in chess circuit, stands defeated by the cruel hands of destiny.

Maiden & last trip

For the eight-year-old Haricharan from Ongole the maiden trip for an event-cum-coaching assignment turned out to be his last. This boy who started playing chess only a few weeks ago was very keen to be coached by someone.

When Girinath's name was suggested, the Hyderabadi informed that he was going to Puri and if the boy was interested he can come alongwith him to get trained and play in the event. The enthusiastic parents, keen not to waste even 10 days ahead of the State selections for the National under-9 championship, sent the boy in the same train alongwith Girinath.

Only last week, Haricharan participated in the Citi Cable Ramakrishna memorial tournament in Vijayawada to see his interest enhanced.

The story is no different for Kasipeta Sekhar of Godavarikhani, who discontinued his studies after passing the SSC exams. Son of Gattaaiah, a worker in Singareni Collieries, Sekhar was also a very enthusiastic chess player coached for the last seven months.

For the Hyderabad girl, Maturi Hemamadhuri, the Puri event would have been her second tournament, after playing one in Kolkata where she won four out of eight games recently. With Girinath moving closer to her home in Ramnagar, Madhuri's interest had grown multifold. The third-standard student of Sri Satya Sai Vidyaniketan was a class leader and said to be equally good in studies. Her mother, Shailaja, was yet to be informed even as his father, M. Anantaram, was getting prepared mentally to receive the coffin.

Abhinav, biggest talent loss

The biggest loss in terms of talent was the demise of Mekhala Abhinav. This boy from a rustic background of Chennakesavapuram village near Kodad (Nalgonda District) was the most unassuming character and a very familiar face in all the local events in Hyderabad.

Tipped to be in line to succeed Harikrishna, who incidentally was his roommate quite a few times, Abhinav captured the imagination of the chess world by winning the Asian boys' under-10 title in Iran last year. This 11-year-old prodigy was coached by Ramdas and Sivakumar and was always telling the local media his ambition was to become a Grandmaster.

It's a pity, these bubbling youngsters will be sorely missed by one and all.

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