Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalee Grandmaster SL Narayanan is happy to have won the chess tournament held in the Czech Republic against 23 people including the former Czech Prime Minister at the same time. Narayanan arrived in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, to face Grandmaster David Navarro at the CEZ Trophy Invitational Chess Tournament, which was held as part of the warmth of diplomatic relations between India and the Czech Republic. As part of this, he competed with many people at the same time.
In the CEZ Trophy, Narayanan battled it out against Navarre in the Rapid Round and the Blitz Round. On the final day of the tournament, Narayanan competed against 23 other players, including former Czech Prime Minister Andre Baby. Former health minister and 2179 yellow rated chess player Roman Primula, former home minister Martin Pesina and Member of Parliament Patrick Nature were among those who opposed the competition. Narayanan defeated all of them. Only once in the history of the tournament has a Simultanius defeated all his opponents in a match.
Now the Chess Olympiad
Returning from Prague yesterday, Narayanan’s next big target is the Chess Olympiad to be held in Chennai in July. The 24 – year – old has been named in India’s top squad for the Olympiad. He also participates in tournaments in the Czech Republic and Germany.
No jobs, no sponsorship
Narayanan has excelled in national and international competitions from the sub-junior level onwards. He has won several medals, including the Commonwealth Championships. Wins against top players in the ratings. With a yellow rating of 2662 points, Narayanan is ranked fifth nationally. He was promoted to Grandmaster in 2015. Despite these achievements, Narayanan is worried about the huge cost of training and travel.
Narayanan is currently being coached by Chuchelev, a Bulgarian. Chuchalev is the coach of leading international players Fabiano Caruane and Anish Giri. A day’s training costs 400 euros (about 40,000 Indian rupees). The cost of travel and accommodation to Bulgaria is different. The bottom line is that it takes millions to get at least a week of training every three months.
Seven years after becoming Grandmaster, neither the state government nor the central government has offered Narayanan a job. Padmini Thomas had assisted in the training during her tenure as the President of the State Sports Council during 2014-16. Narayanan had recently approached the state sports minister seeking help for further training. This file is currently under consideration by the Sports Council. But Narayanan’s parents say the current council authorities are denying them even the help they deserve.