He first made headlines in 2005 when he won the World Under-12 chess championship. N. Srinath may not have quite lived up to that promise he showed as a player, but in the past few days he has been in the news again – for his contribution as a non-playing captain to India’s victory at the online Chess Olympiad.
He was coach, manager, data analyst and facilitator of the players' internet connections, all rolled into one. He is delighted that his efforts have not gone in vain as India was declared joint-champion with Russia. “I was confident that we could go all the way and win the title,” Srinath told The Hindu over the phone from Chennai.
As a coach, he worked more with the juniors in the team. “When it came to choosing which players would play in which round and on which board, myself and the playing captain Vidit Gujrathi took the decisions mostly,” he said. “We also had discussions with seniors like Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy.”
He is happy that the victory at the Olympiad has caught the imagination of the public. The Olympiad made waves on Twitter, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Sachin Tendulkar and Anand Mahindra were among those to congratulate the team.
But thus far, no government or organisation has announced any reward.
“It is a bit disappointing that this team hasn't got any reward despite emerging the champion in a global tournament in which 163 countries took part,” Srinath said.
“It is equally frustrating to note the no chess player has won an Arjuna Award for seven years, despite so many exceptional performances during the period.”
