She is just ten and she has already represented Andhra Pradesh in three national events in chess.
Meet Potluri Supritha, a Std. IV student of Mustabada Sports and Educational Society and a chess prodigy from the coastal region of AP. Young Supritha won the under-11 State tournament at Hyderabad and later finished on top at the under-15 State tournament held at Tadepalligudem.
Achievement
At Ponnur, she bagged the first place by winning the under-17 State championship. “It is a rare achievement. A ten-year-old girl winning senior age group tournaments in AP signifies her innate talent. She has the wherewithal to win medals in the Asian and World tournaments,” says V.R. Bobba, her coach.
Chess is not in the family background of Supritha. Her father takes care of agriculture and her mother works in a private firm at Nuzvid.
Focused
“What started off as a hobby went on to become an obsession for young Supritha.
Her mother gave up her job to concentrate on Supritha's fledgling career.
Everyday she spends around five hours honing her skills in the game of square board,” says Mr. Bobba. Her coach feels that while her middle and end games are encouraging, she needs to master the technique of finishing the game within the allotted time.
“She often gets into trouble due to the time factor. By playing more tournaments, she can overcome these hiccups.”
Mr. Bobba is confident that Supritha will be ready by 2013 to win medals in the Asian and world tournaments.
“All she needs to do is to spend more time training ,” he says.
