BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
PANAJI
With a dream to provide a platform for up-and-coming chess players to mould their talent in the mind sport to a brighter future, the vision of a Goa Chess Academy took its initial step with its launch at Campal, Panaji, recently.
Speaking to The Goan in a freewheeling interview after the launch, the Goa Chess Association President, Mahesh Kandolkar, spoke on its purpose and measures going forward, and also on staging a major Goa International Open Grandmaster Chess Tournament in the near future. Excepts:
What inspired the creation of this chess academy and what is its core mission?
When I came into the Goa Chess Association eight years ago, I held the position of the Vice President. At that time, I gave a proposal to have a chess academy of our own, and we planned accordingly. At that time Goa Chess Association President was Nilesh Cabral, and we were looking out for Communidade land so we could establish a chess academy. While the idea started long ago, it has materialized only now with the Government support. Now we are intending to have chess academies across Goa. As the state Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant has mentioned at the academy inauguration, the next one will be opened in South Goa. For now, the Directorate of Sports has identified a place in Margao. Let us see how much of response we will get from our newly opened chess academy in Panaji. But mostly, the academy will also open in South Goa as logistically it will not be possible for chess players to travel a long way from South of the state to Panaji, in the North.
How does the academy differentiate itself from other sports or enrichment programs in the region?
This academy will have regular classes for the basic level students that will enrol. But we are intending to give specialized training through some Grandmasters or even International Masters who are very good coaches at the India level. So, we will be conducting camps varying from 7-15 days and we will try to get 2-3 GMs per year for our players to come up.
What is the academy’s short-term and long-term goals?
Now that the academy has just started, we intend to have maximum coaching camps. If the government supports, we can have residential camps as well. The more we have such camps for 7-15 days duration, it would benefit the players to get higher level training which will help them to participate in higher rated tournaments.
Goa has not seen a GM level open tournament take place for some time now. Do we see it happen any time soon?
We have had three GM tournaments in Goa, and intend to have another GM tournament in the near future provided we get all the infrastructure and backing for the tournament. Once the GM tournament happens in Goa, all our local players need not go to other states as there is a lot of expenditure involved for playing tournaments outside Goa. With a tournament of that magnitude here, the local players will get the chance to not only play against higher rated players, but give themselves the opportunity to increase their ratings and get the chance to play at bigger tournaments in the future.
If we are going with a GM tournament, it should be in tandem with 2-3 other state associations to bring down the costs down which otherwise would be quite high. For example, invited players cost will be little less as we would have to pay for appearances for higher-rated GMs. In January 2027, there is a tournament in Delhi, so we may line up with them.
