For Oza, Istanbul is a long way from Pune

You win some, you lose some. That’s the basic tenet of sports. But for people like Pune’s Rajesh Oza it’s all about winning. ...

You win some, you lose some. That’s the basic tenet of sports. But for people like Pune’s Rajesh Oza it’s all about winning. Against all odds.

Oza, 25, won the National ‘A’ Blind Chess Championship held in Mumbai in May making him the first fully blind player in the last 20 years to achieve this. The victory qualifies him for the World Chess Championship for Blind at Istanbul, Turkey, in November. However, with funds for training and travel not easy to come by, the road to Istanbul may prove difficult.

Oza’s journey to the National ‘A’ title was hard. He was not born sightless. But in 1994, when he was just 17, Oza lost his eyesight to a cataract problem. Three years of running from hospital to hospital across the country did not help. Unable to carry on with his VIth standard studies at RCM Gujarati High School at Phadke Howd, Oza dropped out. All Oza wanted to do then was to help his father Mafatlal run the family tea stall at the ST stand at Pune station, like his two elder brothers. But that too was out of question after his eyesight failed.

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It was then that he turned to what had previously been just a pastime — chess. In 1998, he participated in the National-level Open for the blind in Mumbai. Although he fared poorly, Rajesh decided this was what he wanted to do and joined the Joseph D’Souza Chess Academy in the city, the first blind student there. Says coach D’Souza, ‘‘Rajesh was never the nervous kind. He would practise endlessly with the sighted players and analyse the game with me.’’ Oza still puts in endless hours with audio cassette manuals that D’Souza gave him.

The effort has paid off. Although it was difficult qualifying for the National ‘A’, he ultimately managed to topple the defending champ Swapnil Shah. Of the win Oza says: ‘‘Swapnil Shah is a class player, he had been ruling the roost for many years and so it was all the more satisfying.’’ Oza is the first non-Mumbaikar to win and also the only fully blind player from the top four who have qualified for the world meet.

However, the route to Istanbul may not be simple. Funds for training and aids required to face the world’s best, the trip to Istanbul and the handicap of being fully blind in a tournament where even partially blind play is giving him sleepless nights.

Though there is a national-level association for chess for the blind, even that does not have enough funds to sponsor players. ‘‘Yeah, it would be difficult, I need around Rs 70,000 to make it to the meet. So far no sponsor has been forthcoming, and unless that happens I doubt if I would play,’’ says Oza.