Mahabubabad: Tribal kid's mastery of 64 squares
E Naveen Nicolas, Additional Secretary to TTWREIS, presenting a memento to Vamshi. Sports officer Ramesh, coaches Ch Gopikrishna and Jyothsna are also seen. (File Photo)
Mahabubabad: Imagining a patronage is a dream for a tribal offspring. However, such things become reality only when an IAS officer like V P Gautham (Khammam District Collector) heads the administration.
During his stint as the Mahabubabad Collector, Gautham had gone the extra mile to support the tribal children taking up chess. His association with a chess coach couple - Ch Gopikrishna and Jyothsna – dates back to when he was the ITDA Project Officer in Bhadrachalam.
He then started encouraging tribal kids to take up chess. Meesala Vamshi who hails from remote Gouraram village under Bayyaram mandal is the find of the talent. In his first two outings in the bigger arena, Vamshi played exceptionally well taking the first place in Under-10 in the Telangana State Fide Rating Tourney (March 31 - April 3) in Hyderabad, besides scoring an Elo rating of 1,241.
Later, Vamshi participated in Mastanaiah All India Chess Rapid Fide Rating Tourney and got a rating of 1,200. The boy who played All India U-10 national selections scored 9/11 (points/rounds) and secured 11th place.
Thus, Vamshi secured a place in the Indian top 15 players who were taking part in the International Chess Federation (Online) tourney which begins on August 1 at Sochi in Russia.
Against this backdrop, Mahabubabad In-charge Collector (FAC) Abhilasha Abhinav presented a laptop to Vamshi to play the virtual tourney. She also directed the social welfare regional coordinator Rajyalakshmi to provide a special room besides uninterrupted power supply and internet connection, enabling Vamshi to take part in the online tourney which begins at 8.30 pm on today (01.08.2021).
"In just one month, Vamshi got the ratings in classic and rapid chess. It was a sort of record for a kid who hails from a tribal hinterland," Gopikrishna, Vamshi's coach told The Hans India.
All the credit goes to V P Gautham and present Collector Abhilasha Abhinav for their uncompromised support, Jyothsna said. It was a strenuous last eight months or so for the coach couple Gopikrishna and Jyothsna who had conducted 260-odd online tourneys to coach the tribal boys.
Vamshi, who is studying Class VII, is the youngest son of farmer couple Ramesh and Sumalatha.