Mysore girl Kavyashree Mallanna, a former Karnataka State Women’s chess champion and National level player, now settled in Boston, USA, is the Founder and Director of Celestial Minds ( A Chess Coaching Centre) and one of New England’s top chess players.

by our Sports Correspondent

A 14-time Chess champion in various catego ries in Karnataka for a decade, Kavyashree pursued her higher studies in California, during which, she acquired United States Chess Federation ‘Expert’ level rating after winning Kolty Chess Club Championship in year 2000.

Chess is a mind game and Mysore has always been producing talented players from time-to-time who have gone to represent the country and the State in different levels.

Mysore girl, M. Kavyashree is one such player who has done Karnataka and Mysore proud with her feats in playing chess from 1989-2000, and won different titles in the State and National levels. Chess remained a part of her life either as a player or as a teacher when she started Prema Chess Lab ( 2003) to train the local talents. Presently she coaches children and chess players of all ages in the United States and also conducts tournaments from time-to-time.

She is the daughter of Prof. Mallanna and Prof. K.R. Premaleela, who are residents of Mysore. Her younger sister Kavana, who is also in the US, is a National level chess player and a former State champion.

Kavyashree went to United States to pursue her higher studies California and after completing her studies, started a chess club (Prema Chess Lab) in 2003 which she renamed in 2012 as ‘Celestial Minds.’

Kavyashree took up to chess at a very young age encouraged by her mother Prof. K.R. Premaleela. She learnt the basics of chess from her mother and senior local chess players initially and later moved on to chess books.

She went on to play chess in the district level and then represented the district in the State level tournaments and went on to win State championships in different age categories (from 1989 to 2000).

Chess, according to Kavyashree, helps an individual to develop lateral thinking, handle multiple tasks, have a holistic view & approach, and balance a situation in a good manner. It is also very helpful for academics.

She loved chess and one fine day quit her IT career and took up to her passion of coaching chess.

Her company ‘Celestial minds’ promotes both music and chess. Love for music is a blessing from her father Prof. S. Mallanna and love for chess is a gift from her mother. Her parents’ hobbies helped Kavyashree find an expression and in balancing a highly competitive career be it chess or IT.

Every September, Kavyashree, through her club conducts tournaments, which gets good response. On the occasion, a musical programme by her father captivated the audience with his songs. Kavyashree’s mother gave away the trophies to the winners.

Kavyashree intends to pursue her passion and love of promoting the game of chess through her club and aims to produce talented players in the days to come. This Mysore girl has made everyone proud with her feats in US and hope she scales greater heights in her coaching career in the days to come.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / January 27th, 2014