Meera Jackson, The Principal of the Chinmaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School at R.S.Puram in Coimbatore leaves no stone unturned in order to ensure that K.Priyanka pursuing her eleventh standard at her school does her best with the game of chess. The bespectacled Priyanka got introduced to the game of chess at the age of 8 and she used to play with her yarn trader father Late S.Kalidhass at home at the beginning and subsequently won a couple of tournaments which helped everyone to understand that she was made for chess. Thereafter , her father put her under the famous K.Dhanashekhar at 100 feet road and this took her game forward over the next 2 years. Unfortunately, her father S.Kalidhass passed away quite early in a motor accident in the year 2012. The personal tragedy came as a rude shock and she moved away to Coorg with her mother K.Maruthambal and grandmother M.Ramalakshmi and stayed with her uncle K.V.Sridhar and therefore could not play competitive chess for about 2 years. Subsequently, the mother, the grandmother and the uncle moved over to Coimbatore and began afresh by letting Priyanka continue her chess while pursuing her education as a student of Chinmaya school.
Priyanka has been a brilliant child and she had spent just half a day in school while spending more time on chess all through her educational career and yet scored more than 90 % in her tenth standard exams. The champion is very subtle and humble while expressing herself, "I play chess all the time and the Chennai based Grandmaster R.B.Ramesh has been my guide and I am lucky to have won over 300 trophies so far by playing a number of tournaments around the world. I was an Under 9 (years) State Champion, National third in the same category and also won the Asian Schools Gold Medal in Sri Lanka. I have played tournaments in Dubai, Greece, Brazil, Mongolia, Russia and earlier my father had accompanied me and on his passing away my uncle K.V.Sridhar has committed all his time and energy for taking me around. I have played all kinds of tournaments am currently National second (women) in the under 16 (years) category and Internationally eighth in the same category. I hope to become a Grandmaster hopefully by the end of 2017."
The chess champion has several credits and has made Coimbatore proud by winning the Commonwealth Chess Championship held at Hotel Leela Ambience in New Delhi in the under 16 (years) category. She has accumulated over 2200 points and has kept her rating at a phenomenal level. In fact she is the second Coimbatorean and after 30 years she got selected for the National Womens Premier after P.V.Nirmala. On one occasion she has played the National Womens Challenger with 11 people based on a Round Robin system for about 10 days. Irrespective of age she has played with the top 12 players of India. In the recent tournament at New Delhi she beat two International Masters and drew with a Grand Master under the open category. K.V.Sridhar the uncle of Priyanka pin points her grit by sharing some facts, "She is clear that the long run is important and will never compromise. While playing the Asian Junior Chess Championship she refused to ask for a draw and had she done so it would have made her a Women's Grand Master."
The mother K.Maruthambal does her bit by managing the finances of her only child Priyanka and was candid about their state of finances, "With the passing away of my husband, we began living with my 70 year old mother who is a recipient of my father's pension and thanks to this arrangement our basic requirements are fulfilled. However we need money for Priyanka's tournament expenses and this includes entry fees which comes up to Rs.10,000 per category besides food, room and travel expenditure. We have to make sure that the room is safe and good otherwise it may come in the way of her performance. A separate account is being maintained at the State Bank of India for her and we share the details of expenses to the sponsors regularly. We are very frugal, for example Priyanka and her uncle carried a cooker to New Delhi during for the Commonwealth Chess Championship and they made upppuma and curd rice everyday at their room, took it to the venue and had the same diet for all the 10 days. Yes, if she plays in two categories she will play for four to five hours for each of those for about 8 or 10 days. Thereby she will be playing for anywhere between 8 and 10 hours a day. She will require Rs.7,90,000 for the ensuing year and therefore we are trying to raise it with the help of the school and other sponsors. We have done our bit at times by selling and pawning our ornaments. I have told her that I may not be able to give her any ornaments and will only try my best to support her with external aid. We are very careful because money can spoil our reputation and every paise is accounted for. Only the autorickshaw charges are mentioned without a bill!".
Meanwhile the Chinmaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School is doing its part by supporting her in every which way. The Principal and teachers have prepared a profile of Priyanka while also granting her attendance exemption through the year. The Principal Meera Jackson is very clear that they will back her to the hilt, "Priyanka is our Star and she chose Chinmaya to be her destiny. Therefore I made a prayer to Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda and requested him to bless Priyanka. Thanks to her hard work and the blessings of Gurudev she is the Commonwealth Champion."
Priyanka plays all kinds of chess tournaments and they include the State, National, Asian, Commonwealth, World level, FIDE Open and the Grand Master Norm Tournament. She plays shuttle badminton for rejuvenating herself and goes for walks while on a tournament tour. The prodigy spends nearly 20 days a month travelling. She is self learner and uses the internet, books and CD's besides taking hints while playing the tournaments. Priyanka is known to all the big players and they like her a lot for she has done her best to maintain her game and reputation.
The prodigy Priyanka is sure to become a Grand Master and one day may emerge as an International Champion. All that she needs now is the support of chess enthusiasts and sponsors at this crucial moment. Priyanka is now part of the history of Coimbatore and will surely be part of the International History of Chess as a Global Champion.
Sponsors and supporters can feel free to contact: K.Maruthambal (Mother) - 9994813565, K.V.Sridhar (Uncle) - 9003755390., or her email: [email protected].