Indian chess team thanks power utilities for Olympiad gold

Chennai: The Indian chess team that recently won the FIDE Online Olympiad gold has thanked various power utilities and their young non-playing captain Srinath Narayanan for ensuring uninterrupted power supply during the competition.

After the loss of three games due to power and internet disruption, the Indian team beefed up its net connection and power back up. But the chess player in Narayanan came to the fore. Chess players calculate various on-board positional scenarios while making a move. Similarly, Narayanan thought of reaching out to the officials of power utilities in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra, where the Indian team players were competing from.

"We called up some IAS officials who in turn gave the number of officials of power utilities in these states. The power utility officials assured of uninterrupted power supply to the players place and ensured that," Narayanan told IANS.

"All the IAS officers in these states were happy to help," Narayanan added. Former world champion V. Anand told reporters on one of the tournament days that power supply in his locality was supposed to be cut between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. He said he was had two internet connections but the problem was when the apartment generator was switched off and power supply from the grid would resumed. That would mean a disruption of about 10 seconds during the course of the first game that day.

However, thanks to Narayanan who had spoken to the officials of utility, power supply was resumed at 3 p.m. ahead of the scheduled time, enabling him to play the game. Similarly, K. Humpy, women's world rapid champion and world No. 2 in the traditional format, said two officials from the Andhra Pradesh power utility near her residence in Vijayawada ensured continued power supply.

Team captain Vidit Santosh Gujrathi also thanked the Maharashtra power utility officials for uninterrupted supply. Humpy and Gujrathi had lost their games against Mongolia due to disruption in power and internet connectivity.