With excitement building up around the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad which will begin in Mahabalipuram later this week, S. Siva too is clued in on the preparations under way and he excitedly says he saw a Metro train with posters for the Olympiad a few days ago.
A Class IX student who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, his skill in chess was a recent revelation to his parents. At the block-level chess competitions held last week by the School Education department, Siva, who is a student of the Chennai Special School for Muscular Dystrophy, emerged as the winner in the Egmore block and went on to compete in the district-level competitions.
“I learnt chess when I was in Class IV, after I saw my father and sister play a game at home. My sister taught me how to play and I occasionally used to play with my friends at school,” says Siva.
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His mother S. Sindhu said that he had to start using a wheelchair from Class VI, and later had to shift schools. “He wasn’t attending any coaching or classes for chess in particular and hardly got a chance to play with people over the last two years owing to the lockdown. He used to watch videos on YouTube of matches, and has a mobile app he used to play on,” she said.
His parents had told his school that he was interested in participating in competitions and it was right then that the School Education department announced a slew of competitions ahead of the Chess Olympiad.
“I competed with students who were placed first in competitions in their respective schools, and managed to win first place,” said Siva.
Given his lack of formal coaching and not having played with many people, his performance in the block level rounds were a pleasant surprise for his parents and teachers, who have been encouraging him. “We are currently exploring options for him to work with a coach and consistently participate in matches,” said Suresh Manikandan, his father.
Asked for his favourite player, Siva says it is Magnus Carlsen without missing a beat. “Chess is the king of all games and after these competitions, I want to learn how to play better,” he added.
