Chess prodigy

Putting her heart and soul on the chessboard, 14-year-old C H Meghna from Athanikal has proved herself to be a promising player. The budding chess player secured fourth position in the 30th National Sub Junior Chess Championship 2013 for Girls held in Kolkata recently.

Of the three girls from Kerala who participated in the event, only Meghna managed to get into the list of the first five players. As many as 98 students had showcased their talents at the champioship. Meghna, a class X student of the Silver Hills Higher Secondary School, scored eight points from 11 rounds and secured the fourth position. Her low tie-break score pushed her to the fourth spot and she missed the bronze medal.

Her outstanding performance has earned her a place in the Indian team, which will take part in the London Classic Chess Tournament slated to be held in the first week of December 2013. For the young chess prodigy, playing chess is same as fighting a battle. “She never takes her eyes off the chess board when the game commences,” her father said. Meghna fell in love with chess when she was just four years old. She is rarely at a loss for words when she starts speaking on her passion for chess. “My father is my first guru. He taught me the basics of chess,” Meghna said. She is also thankful to her teachers at the Silver Hills Higher Secondary School for extending their wholehearted support to her.

“I hope she will be the cat’s whiskers at the London Classic Chess Tournament,” said her father C H Atmaj. “We want our girl to be a renowned chess player as she likes,” he added. “Since Meghna feels comfortable with chess, we did not compel her to try any other games,” said Atmaj. The other two girls who participated in the national championship from Kerala, Hilmi Praveen and Bhagya Jayesh, reached 22nd and 26th positions respectively. “Meghna is a promising player. Since she is settled in Kozhikode, I used to give her online coaching,” said her coach and treasurer of the Chess Association of Kerala, T J Suresh Kumar. She has been learning new tactics in chess from Suresh Kumar for the last three years. Ganesh Bhat of Ernakulam was offering training to her when she was a student at the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Ernakulam. Awards and accolades are not new to this chess lover. She has already won 14 Kerala state championships in various categories including U-7(3), U-9 (2), U-11 (4), U-13(1), U15(1), U-17(2) and U-19(1) . She has also won two national chess championships (U-7 National Chess Championship at Goa in 2006 and U-9 National Chess Championship at New Delhi in 2008). At present, Atmaj, the only breadwinner of the family, is struggling to meet the travel expense of his daughter who has got the chance to participate in several world events.

(This article was published in The New Indian Express newspaper-23/08/2013)