CHENNAI: Mohammad Rafique Khan is a name that has quietly faded in the annals of history. There is hardly any trace of him, not even in the book of chess legacy of the country. Rafique used to help his carpenter father in the morning before going out and watching local chess players in action at the narrow bylanes of Bhopal. It was there he learnt the sport before taking the national circuit by storm. He then created history by becoming the first Indian to win an Olympiad medal.
What's worse when India is hosting the Chess Olympiad for the first time, Rafique will not be there to watch and savour. He passed away on July 19, 2019. However, his teammate Rajesh Bahadur and youngest son Mohammad Rais Khan shared his story with this newspaper highlighting how he went on to become the national chess champion and followed it up with a silver medal in the Olympiad.
"He never had formal education. Instead, he used to help his carpenter father. After getting free, he used to visit a nearby tea stall where chess aficionados were involved in board games. It's there he developed an interest in chess," Bahadur, who is vice-president of the disbanded Madhya Pradesh Chess Association, said.
His immense interest meant he grew by leaps and bounds in just a few years and competed in the MP chess championship for the first time in 1975. The maiden outing ended in a title triumph as he outwitted renowned chess players including Syed Nawab Ali (who represented India in the Varna Olympiad and Bahadur. Earlier in those days, two nationals — National 'A' and 'B' — used to be held wherein the latter served as the qualifier for the former. Rafique qualified for the National 'A' in 1975 itself and finished fifth in the event.
"Next year in 1976, he created a record in Kolkata, which is still intact as far as I know. While competing in National 'B', he registered 11 straight wins and drew the next four games winning the championship. He eventually became the national champion in 1978 when he won the National 'A' held in Cochin," added Bahadur.
Rafique was an introvert and never spoke a lot about his achievements, said his son Rais. "He spoke to us about chess on a very few occasions. We used to hear the stories from his friends and chess lovers of the city," he added.
With Rafique excelling with his show at the national level, he was employed by Bhopal Municipal Corporation. However, he had to quit the job as the employer didn't give him leave to participate in the tournaments. It was then the central government came to his rescue and offered him a job at BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) in 1977. "We still have a letter from then industry minister George Fernandes. A job with BHEL gave him financial security and freedom to compete in chess tournaments," said Rais.
The stability paid huge dividends as Rafique participated in Malta Olympiad in 1980. "That win gave a huge fillip to the sport in the country as nobody thought earlier that a chess player from the country could win an individual medal in the Olympiad," opined Bahadur.
Secretary of the now defunct MP Chess Association Kapil Saxena said Rafique was a fatherly figure to all the budding chess players from the state. "Even the night he passed away, he played chess at the club that he used to visit regularly. Despite achieving so much, he did not get what he deserved but he never complained about anything. In fact, he kept giving back to the sport in whatever way he can," said Saxena.
He might not be a conventional chess player and learned the game his own way but the heights he achieved despite those shortcomings are hard to scale even these days. Undoubtedly, Rafique will be missed big-time when the mega event begins in the country with players of repute from across the globe gracing the occasion with their presence.