We had recently conducted Press Conference to share the pride moments of our chess talents being selected for "Asian Youth Chess Championship-2009" to be held in August in New Delhi. Players securing Top 3 berths in the various age group National Championships are normally selected to represent India in the Asian Youth Chess Championship. This time, since the event is in India, AICF can field one additional player as host entry. Nihal Manjunath ( 3rd place in National u-13), Manasa K (3rd place in National U-17 Girls) and Vanessa D'souza (5th place in Natioanl U-13 Girls) are the Dakshina Kannada players within the selction bracket. It is a very proud moment for our coastal belt. Although Anantharam R U (7th place in National U-9), Viani d'cunha (9th place in National U-13), Gahan M.G (9th place in National U-15) have narrowly missed the selection, its is for the first time 3 players have come in Selection from our District. (Reference http://indianchessfed.org/).
It is at this juncture, South Kanara District Chess Association has issued press releases, stating "the selection of two players merely as donor entries" is misleading the media and it mirrors their hypocrisy. This intentional ignorance of the association is poisonous for the growth of chess.
