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Internet Training
KCA has very recently started
Internet training & has got a very good response from all over the
world. Our students are doing very well in their own countries.
To name a few –
Master Anant Dole –RSA is a current National Champion for U-16 with a
rating of 1997
Mr. Agastya Kalra – Canada - He currently no. 5 in U12 age group
We also plan to develop a interactive platform on our website for the
students.
Young whiz ready to take on the world
Agastya Kalra concentrates on his next move during a chess
tournament at the RA Centre Saturday afternoon. The 12-year-old from the
Centrepointe area will represent Canada at the World Amateur
Championship in Chicago March 19-25. DOUG HEMPSTEAD/Ottawa Sun
Agastya Kalra doesn’t even need to look at the board to beat his father
at chess anymore.
The 12-year-old has been playing seriously since he was six, having
learned the game of strategy and skill from his grandparents at the
tender age of four. Back then he still lived in India, and chess was
finally something he could do where he wouldn’t be out-matched by his
cousins. In fact, even at four years of age, he could whoop both of them
— one twice his age, the other six years his senior.
On March 19, the Ottawa boy will represent Canada at the world amateur
chess championship in Chicago, having been unanimously chosen by the
Chess Federation because of his dominance at the Canadian Amateur event
in Kitchener.
“I was quite surprised when I first heard it,” said Kalra. “I never
expected it.”
Others might not be so surprised — he is ranked among the top five
players in his age group in Canada and has taken home hardware from
tournaments all over Ontario and Quebec.
Because chess players square-off based on skill, not age, Kalra often
finds himself up against opponents more than twice his age, and even
more than his father’s age.
His dad, Sanjiv, said sometimes those older opponents don’t prove to be
more mature opponents.
“Sometimes when he beats them they storm off, or walk away without even
shaking his hand,” Sanjiv said. “But others are quite courteous. They’ll
pat him in the back and tell him to keep going.”
Sanjiv credits Ottawa-based chess coach Tom O’Donnell as being a major
contributor to his son’s continued interest in the game.
“They have a very special connection,” he said, adding his son also has
a coach based in India, Pune Muranilini Kunte.
This weekend the young chess player is involved in a tournament at the
RA Centre which saw him play four hours Friday night and nearly 10 hours
Saturday. But for Kalra, that’s all part of the game. He plays again
Sunday.
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