World Chess Championship Celebration Chess Events: Sai Krishna wins Tournament for Visually Challenged ~ World Chess Championship 2013 Viswanathan Anand vs Magnus Carlsen at Chennai Hyatt Regency
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

World Chess Championship Celebration Chess Events: Sai Krishna wins Tournament for Visually Challenged

Posted by World Chess Championship 2013 News Blog Wednesday, October 30, 2013
The All India Chess Federation is organising several chess events as a celebration to run parallel to the Anand - Carlsen World Chess Championship. One of these was the chess tournament for the visually challenged held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

The winner of the special chess tournament was 16-year-old Sai Krishna with a perfect score in ten rounds. The Tamil Nadu (Indian state of which Chennai is the capital city) State Chess Association has done much to popularise chess for the visually challenged. 

Sai studies in Class XI at the St Louis School for the Blind. Sai is a regular chess player and said, “I am happy and delighted to win the tournament. It is even more special because the tournament was conducted in honour of World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand’s match."
“Participating in tournaments (open, age group) on a regular basis has helped me sharpen my skills. I have won state meets in U-16 and U-14 categories. This has helped me win today.. I had a good start, but towards the end I had to work hard as I faced stiff opposition from K Muthuraman. But my experience came in handy in the end,” said Sai.
Sai studies at the Chess Gurukul. “My growth as a chess player is thanks to my coach Grandmaster RB Ramesh. I practise regularly at Chess Gurukul and have been improving with every passing year. My aim is to be the first blind IM from Chennai,” said Sai. WGM Aarthie Ramesh, who coaches at Chess Gurukul, has a word of praise for Sai. “He is very talented and a good chess player. Despite his condition he is able to take part in regular tournaments. He is able to grasp and understand moves,” she said.

Sai takes pride in being part of the Indian team that took part in the Blind Olympiad. “It was great to play the tournament. Individually I came sixth and as a team India came eighth,” said Sai.

Special braille chess boards were used for the tournament with 76 participants. 

Sai loves chess and has been playing from the age of five. He has won several chess tournaments from a tender age and has taken part in National Chess Open events. Sai Krishna is the National B Chess Champion 2013 for the visually challenged and has represented India at the World Junior Chess Championships in Sweden and Greece.