KOCHI: TV Subramanian is a mini-celebrity among the chess players who are participating in the Queens Open Chess tournament at the Oberon Mall. In the FIDE ranking tournament, the 85-year-old from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu is playing against opponents who are the age of his children and grandchildren.
"My father is younger than him. It is great to see him play at his age," Subramanian's opponent - an adult - said before requesting for a photograph with the octogenarian. "I am the oldest chess player in the country playing in FIDE chess tournaments. I have been playing for almost sixty years," Subramanian said. While his claim couldn't be verified, he plays a lot of chess for a man of his age.
"We just cannot track him. After this tournament gets over, he will head to Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. He will then travel to Goa, then Vellore. He is always travelling," said Sai Balaji, whose son is participating in the tournament, and who hails from the same place as Subramanian. Balaji also said that Subramanian often sleeps at railway stations or the tournament halls when he is travelling to north Indian states.
The veteran started playing chess in 1960 and has not stopped ever since. Besides playing, the man who is fondly called TVS tries to make an income by selling books on chess. He uses the moves of famous players during their games and make them into books and sells them at a nominal rate.
During breaks between his matches in the Quess Open chess, he was selling these books in the waiting room. "I have a little difficulty while travelling. When I am at railway stations, carrying my luggage around is very strenuous.I don't have any health problems, so I am able to manage," he said.
His luggage is essentially a shoulder bag which is full of these books. Subramanian prides himself on having played against India's first International Master Manuel Aaron multiple times in the 1970s and 80s. He has been playing children this week in the Queens chess tournament. Subramanian gets a pension of Rs 3000 from the Tamil Nadu government for his contributions to chess but needs more support to sustain his passion. "I hope that I get some concessions while playing in these tournaments. If I could get free entries to tournaments, then I will be able to play in more competitions. I intend to continue playing as long as I can. But at my age, it can be difficult to win tournaments, but I am continuing to play because of my passion," he said.
"In chess only a select few are rich while the majority are very poor. Most players from Tamil Nadu are very poor but chess is a passion for them," an organiser of the tournament said. Such is Subramanian's passion for chess that when he is not playing chess, he goes door to door to give coaching classes. "He is well known in Tamil Nadu and other states," Balaji said.