Mumbai: Ukrainian Grand Master Aleksander Goloshchapov made a presence in India for his simultaneous exhibition chess match. The match was against 36 kids from the age group of 7-14 in Mumbai. This match was held at the IIFL centre at Lower Parel. It was a time-consuming match, but the GM won each and every game.
Samarth Gandhi from Don Bosco High School was the last participant to lose. The GM was impressed by the way he was playing all his moves. It was quite a tense match between the two, although the veteran won the match. But it was Samarth who was gained the applause for giving him such a tough match. In a country where cricket is considered as a religion, it’s very difficult for someone as Samarth, to inculcate love or passion for another sport.
In the words of the great Bobby Fischer, “All that matters on the Chessboard is good moves.” With innocence in their eyes and the determination to win against the GM was a vision of absolute delight for their parents. Last year, Grand Master Alon Greenfeld was the guest of honour. Yesha Shah of Poddar High School managed to beat the GM in a 4 hour long rigorous match.
It was an exhausting match for the GM as well the participants. There were 36 participants taking part in this match, each had to make a single move to which the GM had to reply with his move. This was an opportunity for the kids to learn and interact with the GM.
SCMA organises this type of exhibition twice every year. The SCMA has merged with schools like American School- BKC-Mumbai, GD Somani School-Colaba-Mumbai, Manav Mandir School-Malabar Hill-Mumbai and Fazlani School-Mazgaon.
The 39-year old Grand Master while advising the future chess titans, said, “To improve the game one should always focus on the opening. The player should calmly deal with all possible variations and handle the game till the end.”
According to the parents at the exhibition, chess should get more and more exposure so that anyone who has the talent will have the platform and required resources which can mould them into a champion. A country which has produced one of the best chess players of all time- Viswanathan Anand- is about to witness, a sea of emerging chess grand masters.