Mangaluru: Samarth J Rao has secured second place at the 5th National Chess Championship for Specially Abled Players, organised by Fire Chess School, in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh. The tournament, held from June 24 to 28, was conducted on behalf of the Chess Federation of Physically Disabled (CFPD) and the All India Chess Federation (AICF).Rao, who completed his MCom, is employed at Honnavar Post Office as a postal assistant under the sports quota. He remained undefeated across nine rounds, finishing with 7 points (five wins and four draws). The championship witnessed participation from 101 disabled players representing over 13 states.A two-time national gold medallist (2022 and 2024), Samarth narrowly missed a hat-trick of titles this year. Nevertheless, he earned a spot to represent India at the 24th IPCA World Chess Championship for the Differently Abled, which will be held in Goa from July 21 to 31, said Jagadish Rao BS, his father.Dhananjay Acharya, superintendent of post offices, Karwar division; MS Gonda, Honnavar postmaster, and fellow postal staff have extended their support to Rao for his outstanding performance.Samarth is the son of Jagadish Rao BS, a retired bank employee, and Vinutha Bhat, a Training Officer at govt ITI, Honnavar. Over the years, he was mentored by Prof VR Shastri (Honnavar), Jyotiprakasam (Madurai), Srinidhi Sripati (Chennai), Swaraj Palit (Jharkhand), Prasad Hegde (Sirsi), Vinay Kumar Hiremutt (Sirsi), and Kapil Lohan (Pune). He is currently being coached by Ajith MP (Mysuru).
