Meeting Chess Grandmaster A Morale Booster for National Squad

KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Sept (Bernama) -- The lifetime experience to get up close and personal with former world chess champion, Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, was indeed a major morale boost to the national paralympic chess squad to ensure victory at the 9th ASEAN Para Games later this month. Head coach Prof Dr Nasrul Muhaimin Kohamood said the meeting with the Russian former world champion at the Paralympic Centre of Excellence in Kampung Pandan last month had provided the players with useful tips and experience. “The historical event had indeed boosted the spirit of the national paralympic chess squad to go all out in reaching for their target of winning five gold medals in the biennial games to be held from Sept 17 to 23,” he told a press conference for the ‘Kita Juara Para ASEAN 2017’ programme here Thursday. The best performance of the national paralympic chess squad was winning nine gold medals in the 2009 edition of the games. -- BERNAMA