V Krishnaswamy on Pitara Kids Network

Viswanathan Anand – The Lightning Kid

Tue, 04 Jan 2000 05:52:26 +0000

Whenever advertisers want a brainy sportstar to talk about their product, very often they think of one name – Viswanathan Anand. A world-class chess champion who was given the name of Lightning Kid because of the speed with which he played.

But how are world class champions like Vishy born? For that, ask his mother Sushila. In 1974, when he was five, she first opened a chessboard and taught him the game. She was also his first opponent in the game. Anand was her youngest child.

The Girl who Won the Boys Chess Title

Sat, 24 Feb 2001 04:13:39 +0000

Koneru Humpy will win many chess titles in her career. After each title she
will also get many phone calls congratulating her. But there is one phone call
she will never forget. It is the call she got from Viswanathan Anand, after she won the World Chess Championship title in the under-12 category, last year. The championship was held in Spain.

In the year 2000, the smiling young curly-haired girl from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, created another record. Koneru Humpy, who turned 13 on March 31 that year, became the first Indian female player to win a National Boys title. She won the under-14 boys title in the National Children Chess Championship for the year 2000. The contest was held at the Karnavati Club, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Chess Bonanza

Wed, 26 Jan 2005 11:06:52 +0000

It’s a sky full of young Indian stars and superstars, in the world of chess today. Leading this amazing pack are 15-year-old Pentyala Harikrishna, and 14-year-old Koneru Humpy, who have created major records in the last fortnight. Harikrishna became the youngest Commonwealth Chess Champion, and Humpy won the World Junior Chess title, which falls in the under-20 category!

Add to the list the names of the World champion (Anand), the Boys Under-10 champion, Deep Sengupta, and several Asian champions like Krishnan Sasikiran, Pallavi Shah and M. Kasturi (Asian Under-20) among others, and what a world class line-up it is!

The First Dream of a Soccer Star

Sun, 22 Jul 2001 19:04:59 +0000

In 1981, Invalappil Mani Vijayan was 12 years old. He sold cold drinks at a football stadium near his home in Thrissur, Kerala, to earn some money for his family. Today he is not only the captain of the Indian football team, he has started a coaching centre at the same football stadium. He wants to help youngsters like him who have dreams but very few ways of making them come true.

The five feet ten inches tall Vijayan is one of the best goal scorers in Indian football today. He holds the record for the fastest goal in the world. He is the sole Indian player to have scored two international hat-tricks for India. The football player has been selected as India’s best player of the year three times.