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Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: Sept 14:“It was a very tough match to play against Russia and win as they are very strong team,” says Utkarsh Gupta, a 10th grade student who has won several awards. But the latest to addition to his list is the 1st World School Chess Team Championship. The Championship that went on from 20th to 28th August was organized, by the Turkey Chess Federation under the guidance of the FIDE at Eskisehir, Turkey in Anadolu University. “For the first time in Indian history we have defeated Russia which is a very strong team,” says Dilip Desai the coach for both the Indian Teams who represented India.

The School Games Federation of India bagged the first place and the Indian Education Society was the runner-up team. It wasn’t an easy job, they faced tough competition from 22 teams from 15 countries like Russia, Turkey, Canada, South Africa, etc.

The team consisted of four people each of them received two medals each for individual the team performance. The four players being Gaurav Konde from Pune, Swapnil Dhopade from Amravati, Ajinkya Pathane from Aurangabad and Utkarsh Gupta from Navi Mumbai, the captain of the team. Utkarsh says, “My neighbour used to play chess and I used to love seeing him play. Then we both started playing and that’s how I got into the game.”

The young chess champion has achieved many awards in his past some of them being the British Chess Federation in which he stood 2nd, Blitz, he stood first and in the National level of School Games Federation of India he stood first.

The young boy is now eagerly waiting for his next tournament in October which will be held in Russia known as the Arctic cup. But Utkarsh says that he has to now concentrate on his studies as he is in 10th std. “My school has supported me a lot. Father Almeda even allowed me to write two exams in Turkey.” It is his mother who has supported a lot towards his success. It has not been easy for the Gupta’s to send their child to Turkey and other places for tournaments without an earning member in the family. Getting sponsorship was not easy, as in India the other games are considered less important as compared to Cricket. It is not a small thing to come first in the world school Chess Team Championship. Mrs.Gupta seemed very disappointed with the system as she doubts if she would be able to send her son for the next tournament. The disappointed mother says, “Except for L&T where my husband was an employee I did not get any help. I also had to sell my shares but this time I don’t think I will be able to help my son go to Russia. Why is it so difficult to get sponsorship for a child who has won the Worlds Chess Championship?”
But both mother and son believe that all will go well. “God will help us and I believe in him, even if there is no body to help us,” says Mrs. Gupta. Utkarsh says that God has done miracles. “Once while I was playing a very crucial game I was loosing terribly and I felt that there was no chance left for winning but some miracle happened and I won the game due to which I reached the National level.”

When asked about his favorite subject, pat comes the reply ‘Maths’. “My mother always tells me that the first priority should always be studies and then Chess.” So the young chess master has a tight schedule of tuitions, school and with all this time to practice chess on Saturdays and Sundays. In his free time he watches T.V and plays on computer. But then again he plays chess on his computer. The champion would think of taking this sport that he loves, as his career but the other option he has kept is engineering which is his mothers wish to get him into IIT.

For this young chess master hard work is the mantra for his success.

Priya Jayakumar