Romancing the board leads to a lifetime of achievement

Raghunandan is the only chess coach to have been decorated with the Dronacharya Award while International Women’s Master (IWM) Anupama has been crowned National champion five times.

The Gokhales, belonging to the same community, have a lot in common. And living in the same neighbourhood, the Gokhales and the Abhyankars sent their children to the same school (Paranjpe Vidyalaya, Andheri).

Raghunandan’s tryst with destiny — and Anupama — began in 1982 when his school decided to hire a coach for its students. Anupama struck him to be prodigiously talented.

He wasn’t wrong as events were to prove. And the mutual attraction was not misplaced. They married in 1991 in a simple ceremony but followed by a lavish reception.

“I was the only daughter and my father wanted to invite plenty of friends,” says Anupama. The Gokhales became proud parents two years later with the arrival of son, Nikhil.

Raghunandan’s passion for the game remains undiminished but after having become an accomplished coach, he plays sparingly. A National `B’ player, who finished runners-up in the 1985 British Open, Raghunandan avoids tournaments involving his pupils, with his reasons.

Chess, after all, is game of set-pieces and strategies. A coach, being aware of his wards’ games and strategies, starts with an overwhelming advantage. The last thing he would want is to stifle progress of his pupils. An administrative officer in Union Bank of India, Raghunandan says about himself: “I am like an artist who is trying to teach others and forgetting lessons myself.”

Though Anupama, an accounts officer with the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, does not require Raghunandan’s help on a day-to-day basis, she like to have him around during major tournaments. “When I am preparing for a tournament, I like his presence. We discuss a lot of openings and positioning of pieces,” she says.

At home they hardly put in more than 30 minutes of work together. “He is generally busy with his students while I am gaining theoretical knowledge in the other room. I turn to him whenever I face a problem and he responds by setting a programme on the computer which helps me tackle it.”

Anupama’s parents are willing baby sitters during outstation competition. And Raghunandan’s company on tour often fetches good results. But she misses Nikhil very much and much as she is keen on competition and career she makes a beeline for home once a tournament ends. She says: “I miss my son very much. As soon as the tournament is over, I am dying to get home quickly,” she explains.

She finished disappointingly just once — the National A Championships, held a few months after giving birth. But it was Raghunandan who drew flak for her poor performance as he recollects: “Manuel Aaron, India’s first International Master and an accomplished journalist, put the blame on my absence for Anupama’s low ranking in that event.”

Anupama likes to take life as it comes and at 28 has achieved more than she could have bargained for. Her greatest moment came when she was 16. Triumphs in the Asian junior girls and women’s events in the same year brought her the Padmashree. She remains the youngest recipient of the prestigious award.

Anupama, who has been brought up in an upright middle-class Maharashtrian background, loves to relax by watching tennis. Her other love includes reading and not surprisingly perhaps, reads a lot of chess books.

Raghunandan has been active on the sports field right from a tender age and had represented his college MV & LU in cricket and table tennis, besides chess. In due course of time he captained the Bombay University chess team which included the renowned Pravin Thipsay.

Needless to say, many of their friends and acquaintances come from the world of chess and the Gokhales are enthusiastic hosts whenever the community converges during events in the city. “Whenever there is a tournament in Mumbai, we invite many players over. It becomes an occasion to socialise with the many friends we have in the chess fraternity all over the country,” says Raghunandan.

Now, well and truly on the highway to success, Raghunandan’s stable keeps breeding talent anew while Anupama’s game shows no sign of relenting even in the wake of challenges from the younger generation.