AMBIKA KUTTY: INTERNATIONAL CHESS ARBITER
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| Ambika K.Kutty, Palakkad |
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Chess players and champions are many. But chess arbiters of international repute are few.
Meet
Ambika K.Kutty, Palakkad, who is the first and only woman
international arbiter from India.
52-year-old
Ambika learned the game only after her marriage to Keshavan Kutty, an
architect in Chennai. She
used to accompany her two children to chess tournaments.
“By observation I learned the game”, she says.
Apart
from arbitering many international tournaments, she has accompanied Indian
players as coach cum manager to many countries.
Locally, she has organized many nationals at Palakkad beside state
and district events.
She
is currently secretary of Women’s Council, All India Chess Federation (AICF)
and holds the post of Vice President, All Kerala Chess Association.
How
does one become an international arbiter?
AICF conducts regular examinations and refresher courses for
arbiters. One has to
officiate a particular number of tournaments to qualify as national
arbiter. To graduate to
international arbiter, one has to officiate several international
tournaments. Ultimately it is
International Chess Federation (FIDE) that confers the title International
Arbiter on arbiters.
Throughout
her career, Ambika has been more of a ‘guardian angel’ than a ‘watch
dog’. For many woman chess
players who feel uneasy with men arbiters, Ambika has come as a blessing.
“Players come to me with their problems freely.
It is important that I make them feel comfortable and familiar”,
she says.
Impartial,
pleasing and motherly – that is how chess players describe her.
Courtesy: Apoorva, New Indian Express, February 12, 2002
Contributed by: Administrator
