Prachurya Pradhan. Telegraph picture

Nuapada, May 5: Fourteen-year-old Prachurya Pradhan of Boden in Nuapada district has become the first visually challenged player from the state to gain FIDE rating. This rating means he now qualifies to play international tournaments.

Earlier this year, Prachurya emerged champion at the national under-19 FIDE rated chess tournament for the visually challenged at Maharashtra’s Latur. Later, in the Eastern zonal tournament in Calcutta, he was ranked third. He then participated in the national B tournament in Coimbatore. His impressive performance in the FIDE-approved national school tournament ensured a FIDE rating for him.

The teenager has Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), a disease genetically passed through families and are people with this disease are born blind. Undeterred by this, his father Rabi Ranjan Pradhan, who teaches Oriya in a college, and mother Jayanti, have been encouraging him in his endeavour.

“We wanted him to take up some activity where his lack of sight would not be a handicap or hindrance and hence opted for chess where the visually impaired could compete with those more fortunate, on equal terms,” says his father, Rabi Ranjan.

“My brother Keshab Ranjan Pradhan has remained a national ‘B’ player. He has represented Orissa in the national ‘B’ chess tournament. He was the source of inspiration for my son. Playing the national B tournament was the major breakthrough as the tournament is considered the stepping stone to participating in the international arena. Later, in the national school chess tournament, he did well to gain the FIDE rating,” the talented teen said.

Prachurya studies in the Bhima Bhoi School for Blind in Bhubaneswar. This year, he has come to stay in their village as he has to concentrate in chess for forthcoming tournaments.

The journey from a remote village in Nuapada district to the training camp in Mumbai was the result of hard work. “One Durga Prasad Mahapatra from Cuttack used to coach us at the school in Bhubaneswar. One day we came to know that All India Chess Federation for Blind (AICFB) had picked up 19 players from all over India for training to participate in the International Chess Olympiad for the blind. I got into the list,” Prachurya said.

In Mumbai, former National ‘B’ champion and at present a leading coach of the country, Shekhar Sahu, who played an instrumental role in producing many GMs and Ims, coached Prachurya along with the others. “Under his training, I was able to claim the runners-up title in the national open FIDE rating tournament in Panipath about a year ago,” Prachurya said.

He said that his first aim was to gain the FIDE rating which he has achieved now. “Now that I have gained the rating, my first aim is to become an International Masters and finally a Grand Master. I am confident that I can win the title at the International Chess Olympiad for blind,” said Prachurya.