N. Srinath first made headlines in 2005. He won the World Under-12 chess championship. In the past few days, news has him again. This time, he appears for his contribution as a non-playing captain to India’s victory at the online Chess Olympiad.
Srinath was coach, manager, data analyst and facilitator of the players’ internet connections. He is delighted as India was declared a joint-champion with Russia. He worked more with juniors in the team as a coach.
“When it came to choosing which players would play in which round and on which board, myself and the playing captain Vidit Gujrathi took the decisions mostly,” he said. “We also had discussions with seniors like Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy.”
The Olympiad victory made waves on Twitter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Sachin Tendulkar and Anand Mahindra were among those who congratulated the team.
However, neither the government nor any other organisation has announced any reward.
“It is a bit disappointing that this team hasn’t got any reward despite emerging the champion in a global tournament in which 163 countries took part,” Srinath said.
“It is equally frustrating to note the no chess player has won an Arjuna Award for seven years, despite so many exceptional performances during the period.”