Making the right moves

Don’t be fooled by 24-year-old Manasa Kongot’s delicate demeanour – This Mangaluru bred-Bengaluru based chess mistress’s sharp gaming acumen will have you ‘checkmated’ – even before you know it! After having bagged the Karnataka State Women’s Chess Championship’16 held at the Mandya Chess Academy, by the United Karnataka Chess Association, the youngster tells us what’s next on the anvil…

“In all honesty, Chess was never on the cards until I was 12. I remember indulging in activities like cycling, quizzing and sketching. However, my dad was familiar with this game since he’s been playing it since his college days. But my tryst with it dates back to a rainy day when I asked my dad to take the old chess board out of the store room and play chess. The rest as they say is history!” pipes the youngster, who currently holds an impressive record of winning the top spots at State Women’s Championships consecutively for 5 years in a row, starting from 2011.

 Speaking about her recent feat at the Karnataka State Women’s Chess Champion ship, where Manasa made a score of 7 points out of 9 rounds, and was declared the winner among the 68 participants, out of which 27 were Inter national (FIDE) rated players, she says, “It was a tie among three players for the top place, but due to a better tie-break score, I was declared as the champion,” she proudly beams, while implying how it is the experience that truly drives her.

“I’m more of a people’s person, so for me it’s interacting with different players, and getting different perspectives that matter the most.”

Barely 13 years into the game, and the youngster’s already on top of the game. On quizzing her about what truly drives her, pat comes the response, “I feel it’s important to  be grateful. While it was my dad who  taught me the basics of chess; he enrolled me into a chess coaching school.But nine months into it and I dreaded every minute! And gladly, my parents stood by my decision of leaving coaching and doing self-study using standard chess books. He made all arrangements in home for my self study and then there was no look back. The same year I won my first state Under-11 girls chess championship and got selected for the nationals.  I believe a sound support system integral, and it’s the happiness of my loved ones that motives me.”

Prod her whether juggling professional chess and a Ph.D leaves her with no time, and she replies, “I’m quite the multi-tasker! So no matter how busy the day is, I make it a point to indulge my other passions – reading adventure novels, trying out new vegetarian delicacies, singing, travelling  and being a part of social awareness and activities.”