Why no reward for Ratnakaran?

By P. K. Ajith Kumar

KOZHIKODE, OCT. 6. On one hand you have a bronze medalist at the Asian junior chess championship. On the other, you have two brothers with medals from an open tournament. You reward the brothers with Rs.1 lakh each because they want to play as donor entries at the World championship. And give the other chap nothing.

In a country where Arjuna, who fought gallantly at the Kurukshetra war, stands a better chance to be honoured with the Arjuna Award than the likes of I. M. Vijayan or Aparna Popat, one shouldn't of course be too optimistic. Still the way the Kerala Government has treated Kerala's best chess player K. Ratnakaran is appalling to say the least.

There was nothing wrong with the Kerala cabinet decision on October 3 to give financial rewards to C. M. Arjun Vishnuvardhan and his younger brother Gaurishankar. They are promising players and need all the encouragement. They might even do well in that World championship in Spain. But why was Ratnakaran's feat ignored?

One thing has to be made clear at the outset. That a bronze medal at the Asian junior championship is a much bigger achievement than a gold medal at a British championship. There is no qualification tournament for playing in the British championship. Of course you need talent to win the title there, and the brothers have reasons to feel proud of their achievements.

But Ratnakaran played at the Asian championship in Teheran after coming third at the National junior championship, the qualifying tournament, in Bangalore.

He was entered as a special entry by the All India Chess Federation (AICF), as only the top two from the Nationals are eligible as the official entries. M. Kasturi, from Madurai, was also entered as a special entry, after she had finished third in the National junior girls' championship. Like Ratnakaran, she justified her entry, by winning a medal, gold in fact.

The boys' field was pretty tough in Teheran. There were four International Masters (IM) in the fray, and Ratnakaran was seeded 13th. He played superbly to tie for the runner-up spot with Pendyala Harikrishna, the new wonderboy of Indian chess (he had drawn with the Guntur prodigy, but on progressive score he was placed third).

His bronze medal is indeed still the biggest achievement by a Kerala player on the chessboard. He proved that the medal was no fluke when he came up with another impressive performance at the National rapid championship at Tirur a fortnight ago, when he came fifth in another strong field.

Arjun and Gaurishankar have been given this financial assistance to enable them to play in the World youth chess championship to be held in Spain later this month, as donor entries. But one shouldn't forget that they could have played the tournament completely on Indian Government's expense if they had qualified from the National age group tournaments.

One shouldn't also forget the ugly episode a year ago when Gaurishankar's name cropped up in a match-fixing scandal in a FIDE rated tournament at Thiruvananthapuram. He had broken a world record that simply did not exist and his father had come in for a lot of flak because of the incident, and the tournament wasn't recognised even by the AICF, let alone FIDE.

Gaurishankar and his elder brother have talent, no doubt. One veteran player who had a glance at their game told this writer the other day, ``I did see promise in them, but they need to be guided properly.''

If Koneru Humpy and Pendyala Harikrishna are world beaters today, that is because their career was handled sensibly by their parents. They were never in a hurry to turn their children into overnight sensations, and they made them play in as many State and National tournaments as possible.

As for Ratnakaran, his father is not around to guide him. He died three years ago, in tragic circumstances, following a financial crisis in the family business. If any chess player needs assistance in India, it is this 19-year-old lad, who can't even afford basic books on chess, or to play in tournaments in other parts of India.

``It is very unfortunate that Ratnakaran hasn't got any recognition from the Government,'' said Mr. P. T. Ummer Koya, AICF secretary and FIDE vice president. ''I have been following Kerala chess for a long time, and I can say with conviction that he has been our best bet and his achievement at Teheran the best by a Keralite. I sincerely hope the Government would do something to help him.``

Ratnakaran hasn't even received the kit allowance by the Sports Council, eligible to him, after playing two international tournaments - the Asian juniors and the World junior championship in Athens. ``All I want is some assistance to play in tournaments,`` said Ratnkaran, ''and to buy a personal computer, which everyone knows is very essential for a chess player today.``

Tal Chess Academy, of which Mr. Koya is the founder secretary, has arranged a one-month coaching camp for Ratnakaran under Russian coach Alexander Lyssenko, but it has its won limitations. His trainer is impressed. ''But he needs more exposure,`` said Lyssenko.

He also needs some attention from people who matter. And he shouldn't be ignored like this, when lesser achievements are rewarded handsomely.

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