PERAMBALUR: A 39-year-old techie from Perambalur has recently won the gold medal in the 10th FIDE World Cup in Composing in the Retros section. N Velmurugan of Kalyan Nagar in Perambalur, who completed BE computer science in 2005, is a software engineer with a private company in Chennai.
Velmurugan has been passionate about chess since his college days and has participated in various international tournaments held in Germany, Russia, Singapore and USA and won prizes. Velmurugan won the silver medal in Anna University Chess Tournament in 2003, gold in Tamil Nadu Inter Engineering Sports (TIES) in 2004 and silver in 2005, and gold in US Chess Tournament in 2011.
In June 2022, the FIDE conducted its 10th World Cup in Composing at Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. The tournament is organised by FIDE every year in eight sections to promote chess composition. Velmurugan participated in the Retros section. He won a gold medal and the world cup, prize money and a FIDE certificate.
When he went to get the award in November, he also participated in a five-day quick composing tournament held there and won the third prize. Speaking to The New Indian Express, Velmurugan said, "I was happy to participate and win the world cup. No one from India has ever won gold in the Retros section. Russia and Ukraine are strong in this.
Chess lovers love to play chess but they must also come forward to participate in chess composition. In this too, everyone can become Master, Grand Master and International Master." "I did not know the rules of the game when I was in college. A friend helped me get a taste of the game. Then I learned it properly and started playing it regularly. My parents encouraged me and helped me reap success," he added.