Mr. Subhash V.Honmurgi
Smart Moves!

Please tell us something about yourself ....
"Basically I am a simple man from Sholapur, which is on the border of Karnataka and Maharashtra. After doing my S.S.C. I did my technical diploma with ITI and my appprenticeship with Voltas, where I continued to work as a Welder (medalist).Later I gave my NCTVT Exam for A\C and Refrigerator."

"After working with Voltas for 26 years, initially as a welder, I took voluntary retirement on 6th may'99. I was a Union Leader from' 77-'84 and the General Secretary of the Voltas sports club till I retired."

How did you get interested in chess?
"In 1972, I was just a welder with Voltas, when one day I saw my superiors playing a game of chess and due to my small town upbringing I barged into the office and asked them what they were doing. One of my officers got very angry with me and said that, it was a game for intelligent people and not for people without brains who like me interrupt unannounced."

"I felt very insulted then and decided to do something about the taunt. I got so obsessed with the game that my mother thought that I had gone mad, when in my sleep I saw camels, horses and elephants walking all over in my dreams. Within a year I learnt the game on my own and became the Voltas champion beating my superiors.In fact, later in one competion I played simultaneously, one against twenty chess players where I won all the twenty games at one go."

"My Bosses were very proud of my determination to succeed, so I got a lot of support and encouragement from them and I am sincerely very thankful to them for inspiring me to achieve this position in life because of chess."

What have you achieved personally by your hobby?
"Besides Chess, I also play Carrom and have learnt Magic from Jadugar Raghuvir, from Pune just out of curiosity and fun. But it is my love for chess, that has given me fame, recognition, respect and the financial security. It has also put my name as the *star* of Voltas in the Gallery of 'Stars'- forever and am a proud member of the All India Chess Federation. My achievements in Chess got me invited to 'Breakfast' with our Late Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi at 10, Janpath, New Delhi and above all- this 'Baldness' (jokingly, pointing to his head) is a lasting result of my obssesion with chess."

How and why did you think of coaching people to play chess?
"I have regularly been the arbitrator for many organised Chess contests, where sometimes I saw the losing child very sad and with tears in their eyes. I explained to them their mistakes , showing them rectified moves to prevent losses and also encouraged them saying that they had played a good game and would do so in the future."

"Seeing this a lot of parents approached me requesting me to guide their children. This was what I did naturally, so I started accepting students having an interest in Chess, whether young or old."

"My youngest student is only four and half years old, he is accompanied by his Doctor father, Mr Sandeep Kelkar who is a Paediatrician. Soham is giving his father a think or two, and I am sure in a short time he can beat his own father who himself is a very good player."

Are your children interested in the game, too?
"Not only my children but my wife Sumitra, my main champion and supporter also plays Chess. It is because of her unobtrusive and literally silent support I am able to coach undisturbed."

"As a result of which, I have been able to develop a keen interest for Chess in all our three sons - RajKumar (18yrs), Amar (17), and Vikram (15), they are all playing competitive games and winning several championships at their respective levels. They also have to concentrate on their studies, as the eldest Rajkumar is studing to be an engineer. Amar wants to be a C. A., in fact the H.S.C.results have put my son Amar, who is in the Mulund College of Commerce on the Merit List with a percentage of 87.67% and the youngest s Vikram is awaiting S.S.C. results."

"Vikram ranked in the Bournvita Inter-School Chess Tournament held in October 1997. 330 chess enthusiasts participated from all over Maharashtra. Vikram's trophy and certificate for securing 4th Rank were presented by film actor Amol Palekar and Girish Gokhale, Muncipal Commissioner of Mumbai."

What is your opinion of man versus computer, playing chess?
"It is the Human mind that has created the computer to play against Man. Chess is a game of lot of permutations and combinations.We can feed all the winning data from a million minds into the computer and it can retain and retrieve it in an instant. But a human mind can be affected when playing under pressure and could make a mistake, losing the game out of an impatient move or over looking facts resulting in the the computer winning the game.''

How can the future for chess in India be improved?
"Though chess in India has a long History, Russia leads in chess today. This position can be easily reversed and we can overtake them in a short while if every school introduces children to chess, atleast from the age of 6 years."

What are the details of your coaching charges, duration and timings?
"I have no hard and fast rule about the timings. I accomodate students as per their convenience and charge @ 100/- per hour. Most of the time a session stretches to one and half to two hours, since people come from long distances. Basics of chess can be learnt in 6 months, while to play at tournament level you need to put in a few years."

Any message for Thaneites?
"I would like to introduce every Thaneite to the joy of playing chess. For what is Chess ? For me it means,'C' for Character, 'H' for Honesty, 'E' for effort, 'S' for Sincerity, and all this together, guarantees 'S' for- SUCCESS !"

As told to Thaneweb.com