Children’s day out with chess

[1]

Young chess enthusiasts thronged Hotel Vijay Park, the venue of the world junior championship, on Sunday.

When the arbiters announced the start of the sixth round, right from tiny tots to grandmothers, many people lined up inside the tournament hall with pin-drop silence to watch top juniors take on each other in the sixth round of the premier event.

Seven-year-old Adarsh Balachandar, who had come all the way from Chrompet, was excited to see his favourite WGM Padmini Rout in action. “He was very upset when he learnt about her loss on Saturday,” said his father K. V. Balachandar. Adarsh chipped in: “I want Padmini akka to win this tournament.”

If Padmini was Adarsh’s favourite, Vivekananda Vidyalaya’s R. Aadith (8) was an ardent supporter of GM B. Adhiban, whom he managed to wish before the start of his game. “I was able to shake his hands and wish him all the best before the game,” Aadith said.

While, little boys were thrilled to watch the grandmasters in action, a slightly experienced group was all ears to the live commentary of GM R.B. Ramesh.

“The crowd response was good today and the school holiday might be one of the reasons,” said Ramesh, who was delighted with the enthusiasm of children. The GM threw a lot of questions at the future champions.

“We learnt how to calculate five moves in advance,” said R. Akshayaa, an 11th std student of Velammal School. For S. Surya, 15, the observations of GM Ramesh stimulated her thinking. “He has given us some ideas to improve and we will surely follow them,” added T. Ashwin, 16.

Maharishi Vidya Mandir’s Class V student Megha Krishnan was so excited in seeing so many grandmasters in one place that she kept wandering in and out of the games hall even after most of the children had left.