Express Through Chess: Kavyashree Mallanna Shares The Life of a Female Chess Champion
Checkmate! Today’s woman dreamer, Kavyashree Mallanna is one of New England’s top chess players. With focus, imagination, and perseverance, she brings her A-game to every match, and to her chess students. Inspired by what chess can do for the young mind, Kavyashree founded “Celestial Minds” where she has organized many prestigious chess events, including the New England Junior Open Chess Championship. In this article, she shares her experience as a woman in the chess world, what it takes to be a good player, and her next big dream! Enjoy her exciting story below!
1) Tell us your story. You are one of New England's top chess players, and the highest ranking female chess player in New Hampshire, as well as many more accolades in the chess world. What got you interested in chess, and what inspired you to coach other budding players?
Chess has been an integral part of my life for over 3 decades now. From the time my mother taught me the moves when i was a 6 year old kid, until now, Chess has been a passion and a motivation for me to realize my life's aspirations through the royal game. Though I have played different roles in chess as a player, organizer and coach, my basic love for the game has been the same as ever. In many ways chess resembles life itself, my fascination for finding balance amidst the black and white squares is what inspires me to do more. It was only natural for me to share my passion for the game with children, to be a role model for them as their coach in their chess journey.
Even when we lose, we learn something from it, how to avoid the same mistake in the next game, how to improve what we played.
2) What are the three essential characteristics/personality traits a good chess player needs?
Basically every chess player needs to have focus, imagination and perseverance . Other qualities are off shoots of these 3 traits. Focus on solving the problems on the chessboard, using creativity and imagination to implement plans and a strong desire to win, is what makes a good chess player.
Along with Music and Maths, Chess is the only other field where we find prodigies. I am passionate about Chess, i am fascinated by the suspense of what the next move is, i am excited about solving the problems on the chessboard. It is not just moving the chess pieces, it is the harmonious way they work together for a common goal of Checkmate; this is what makes me love chess. Chess is more than a Sport, it is an Art and a Science.
3.The motto for your company is "Express through Chess", raising funds to sponsor a chess-adept kid with cerebral palsy. This is amazing! Why do you think chess is an important game for young people to learn? How do you keep your students motivated?
In the current times, children are overwhelmed by so much going on around them. It is difficult for them to judge what is right and what is wrong. Chess gives them the most important decision making ability through which they can navigate through the complexities. Having focus, being creative and positively motivated also teaches them the essential qualities for winning in their life as well. Winning is itself a motivating factor, even when they lose, I teach them to put in their best efforts and enjoy the game. I often share my stories, my experiences and what I personally learnt from chess, with my students so that they can understand what they need to do.
I feel so happy that I am able to make a difference in children who are differently-abled. Through our outreach program, we have been helping hearing impaired girls in Mysore, we have been trying to uplift many street kids in Uganda (Africa). I feel proud to inform you that one of the kids, despite having cerebral palsy, has achieved tournament success when we supported him financially for Chess.
4) As a #Dreamcatchers platform, we have to ask, what is your next big dream?
My dream is to make a positive difference to the world through Chess. Sport is a great unifier, and through the game of Chess i would like to inspire each and every child to achieve greater heights, to realize their dreams.
I want my company Celestial Minds, to implement the plans we have for Chess, to be able to do all this and much more.
Bio: Kavyashree Mallanna, is one of New England's top Chess players. Being the highest rated female chess player in New Hampshire, she has an ‘Expert’ level rating from United States Chess Federation. She is a qualified International Organizer from FIDE and a USCF Chess Arbiter.
In the year 2012, she took the bold step of quitting her promising career in Software and founded Celestial Minds in New Hampshire, USA. Through Celestial Minds, she has organized several prestigious events like the New England Junior Open Chess Championship, USCF rated Scholastic events and ChessoMania. Collaborating with All India Chess Federation, Celestial Minds successfully organized a national level FIDE Rated Rapid & Blitz Open Chess Championship which attracted record entries from all over the country. Students of Celestial Minds have been consistently winning the Scholastic Team Chess events in the New England region.
Celestial Minds has also been contributing to uplift the social conditions across the world through the ‘Outreach’ program, whose motto is “Express through Chess”. Raising funds to sponsor a chess-talented child having cerebral palsy, donating to local NGOs, sending chess equipment to a needy group in Uganda, chess camps for the hearing impaired girls and organizing events whose proceeds are donated to charity are some of philanthropic activities carried out through Outreach.
In addition to Chess, Kavyashree has made significant achievements in Swimming and contribution to Music field.