The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Checkmated in real life

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 11, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Checkmated in real life

V.V. Subrahmanyam

All-India Chess Federation official has to run from pillar to post in the twilight of his life to raise money even to pay medical bills

Nasiruddin Ghalib

Hyderabad: For someone who taught the most famous chess personality of India, Viswanathan Anand, how to make moves on the 64-squares, Nasiruddin Ghalib seems to be simply cornered in real life.

Besieged by personal problems and ailing for quite some time, this gentleman official of yesteryear largely responsible in taking Anand around the world for competitive circuit in his capacity as the secretary of All-India Chess Federation, is now battling for life. Ghalib undoubtedly stood apart, and tall too, from the crowd for his righteous ways.

Away from controversies

Ghalib, the highly knowledgeable chess critic who also donned the role of a journalist with in-depth analyses of the best of the games, kept himself at a safe distance from the `evil forces' who were in a way allegedly responsible for the mess the sport is in today in the State, particularly Hyderabad.

In an era when the so-called `coaches' promote themselves unabashedly, Ghalib never claimed credit for the success of any individual.

He always felt that the role of a coach was that of a facilitator and never a creator of a genius. Unfortunately, in the twilight of his career, Ghalib is running from pillar to post to raise funds even for his medical treatment.

The brief phase when life really looked good for him was when Ravi Sanghi, MD of Sanghi Group of Industries, made him the chief arbiter for the Sanghi World Chess Championship quarterfinals and semi-finals in mid-90s and then as deputy arbiter for the World Cup in Ramoji Film City some time ago.

Cherished moment

Ghalib's most cherished moment was when former world champion Anatoly Karpov walked across to greet him during the World Championship in Sanghinagar — an encounter, which he recalls with a big smile and wishes to `freeze in memory'. But now, not many including the chess officials are willing to walk across and lend a helping hand! Clearly Ghalib is checkmated in real life!

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