National Chess Champion at odds with executive of local Federation

Mar 16, 2010 Sports

Extricate self from their tournaments

National Chess Champion Wendell Meusa is up in arms with the executives of the National Chess Federation and has extricated himself from all activities under their auspices. The aspiring grand master has, however, committed to the defence of his title since he feels that his standing as the champion gives him some amount of immunity from corrupt practices.
Meusa feels that he is being unfairly targeted and is receiving some wrong deals. He cited the issue where players are allotted to play the black or white chess pieces. This is a very technical procedure and most times those allotted the white pieces may start with an advantage. Muesa explained that the player with the white pieces starts the game as the attacker with the initiative. Those playing the black pieces are placed in a defensive position.
In order to make the game as fair as possible the competitors are allotted equal chances of playing both colours. Muesa is contending that such is not the case and on too many occasions a selective set of players are allotted the white pieces while other players, not among the favourites, are allotted the black pieces. “This type of behaviour is tantamount to corruption and I would have nothing to do with it,” ranted Meusa.
This apart, the national chess champion is disturbed over the blatant disregard of the rules by some players. He said that smoking and drinking of alcohol is strictly prohibited at the venues yet senior players are engaged in such activities without any sanction from the members of the executive body. Another grouse nurtured by Meusa is the incessant ringing of cell phones during games. He said that this could be very distracting and despite repeated complaints, the situation persists.
Muesa who lost the recently organized Topco Juice tournament to former junior champion, Taffin Khan, feels that there is a plot to stymie his progress thus his decision to extricate himself from tournaments organized by the Federation.
Tournament Director, Irshad Mohamed was somewhat surprised by Muesa’s claims. He said that as far as he knows the executives abide by the rules in place for conducting tournaments.
Mohammed said that he had noted some players consuming alcohol and smoking cigarettes in the playing room. He said that this was done out of ignorance and not in blatant contravention of the rules.
Mohammed further said that these players were subsequently apprised of the rules and advised to conduct such activities away from the venue. He said that they have since requested a break to descend one floor if they wish to engage in such activities.
Touching on the issue of the players’ allotment to the white or black pieces, Mohammed said that executives attempt to be fair on such decisions. He said that organizers are guided by an established computer programme which is used in every tournament. He admitted that there are times when the system appears to be unfair.
One such case may occur when there are odd numbers competing in the tournament. “If, for example, seven players are competing in the tournament, some may have to play a particular colour 4 times while playing the other thrice.” Mr. Mohammed said that even such decisions are arrived at during a fair process. He then directed all other queries to the President of the Chess Federation, Errol Tiwari. Several attempts to call Mr. Tiwari failed.
In the interim, Mr. Meusa has formed a chess foundation, situated at the American University of Peace Studies, 35 Sheriff Street Campbellville. He said that the main aim of the foundation is to promote the development of youngsters through chess. Muesa intimated that the motto of the foundation is ‘Developing minds through chess.’ He boasted of a membership in excess of 50 persons including young primary school children. Training sessions are conducted on Fridays between 14:00hrs-16:00hrs, 11:00hrs-14:00hrs on Saturdays and 9:00-11:00hrs on Sundays.

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