Following the footsteps of Judit Polgar

Sevitha Viju is the next big chess hope of the two Telugu-speaking States that have produced four Grand Masters till date

As a child prodigy she has been making all the winning moves from the time she was introduced to the 64-square board. The dexterity has been so phenomenally consistent that she has notched up her 50th title over the weekend when she emerged tops in her age-group category of the 11th Telangana All India FIDE-rating chess tournament that concluded at St Joseph’s Public School on Sunday.

Even more fascinating is that Sevitha Viju achieved the milestone less than four weeks after turning seven. A third standard student of Sadhu Vaswani International School at Kompally, Sevitha is blessed with chess in her genes as both her parents are prominent players of the mind-game. If her father Venkat Mahadev is her first coach, then the mother Swathi Mahadev is an active player, who is fresh from achieving her maiden international rating in the women category at Sangli.

Sevitha has been tasting success at regular intervals. They have been coming close on the heels of one another. She won the district School Games Federation (SGF) tournament in August among several other honours. Having finished third in the SGF State tournament at Nalgonda last fortnight, she has been selected for the National School Chess Games, which will, perhaps, be her first big step towards an envious national recognition.

It will be a giant leap forward for one who finished 12th in the 8th Asian Schools Chess Championship that was held in New Delhi in 2012 when she was all of five years! If she spearheaded Sadhu Vaswani International School to the fourth spot in the CBSE South Zone tournament held in Delhi Public School, Secunderabad, then she has also steered her school to the top of the charts in the 12th Devasia inter-school chess tournament that was conducted at St Andrews School in Bowenpally.

In a unique gesture that stands out as an exemplary precedent, the management of Sadhu Vaswani International School, recognising the talent in the star-in-the-making, has extended scholarship facility till she completes her Intermediate education. ‘I am overwhelmed by the noble fee-exemption act because my educational needs are being taken care of,’ says Sevitha in a salutation that is as sincere as is her approach to the sport, which is her avowed career choice along with achieving excellence in academics.

‘Winning the best woman player award in the Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) open tournament at Lal Bahadur Stadium has been a morale-booster,’ cherishes the new chess hope. She subsequently made it to the State team with her fine showing in the higher age-group-Ranga Reddy District SGF Under-14 girls’ selection championships-at ZPHS kushaiguda. She says she is indebted to the masters who are fine-tuning her skills, including J Subrahmanyam, Subba Raju, GV Srinivas and Ramesh Kumar.

Of course, there has been an influx of talented youngsters, which is making the sport that much more competitive. In this backdrop, even when pitted against equally skilled playes, Sevitha is generally having the last laugh in the battle of wits. Incidentally, there is an exalted irony to her name.

Viju is a take-off on the first two letters of Viswanathan Anand and Judit Polgar, whose exploits the young girls wishes to exploit apart from idolizing reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and the mercurial Bobby Fischer. Not bad choices for a girl who nurtures ambitions of becoming the world’s youngest Woman Grand Master and hopes to focus on strong opening moves and a developing solid middle-game, a la the Lightning Kid.

One sincerely hopes that either the ad-hoc committee heading the State Association or the Government will take note of the bright new hope on the firmament and provide suitable support as she goes about her quest, which will, eventually, translate into getting laurels to the State.