K. Priyanka was on a high at the start of the year, having secured the Woman International Master title. She was all the more thrilled as she received it from chess legend Viswanathan Anand. It motivated her so much that she decided to chase her dream of turning a Woman Grandmaster by taking part in quite a few international tournaments.
But the COVID-19 lockdown has cut short her plans.
Board exams
“After playing some great games in the Chennai GM Open tournament in January, I took a break to prepare for my class 12 Board exams. Soon after that, I planned to play two international tournaments in Dubai and Sharjah. But the pandemic has upset all plans,” said Priyanka.
The young girl has challenged many on the 64 squares but finds the inaction a bit too hot to handle. “I eagerly wanted a break because I had worked so hard, but this one is too long and forced upon me. I enjoyed those initial days with my family, but now I terribly miss playing tournaments,” said the Commonwealth chess champion.
“Forget about the results, the atmosphere and joy that tournaments give is hard to describe. I have always been a ‘tournament person’, as my life’s lessons are learnt there,” she added.
Priyanka realises that things are out of her control right now. “I know there is no point cribbing. I have started to accept life. Now, I have decided to take part in competitive online tournaments. There are many happening, which makes a chess player’s life a little easy. I am working on endgames. I did not enjoy doing this before, but now I do,” she said.
Priyanka has also been learning new languages, and enjoying dishes cooked by her mother K. Marudhambal. She is eagerly waiting for things to return to normalcy.
“My favourite catchphrase is ‘no matter what life throws at you, keep chasing your dreams until it turns colourful’. I am doing just that,” she concluded.
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