Ludhiana, April 10
Financial constraints have put a question mark on the career prospects of a chess player whose hearing is impaired.

This handicap has not been able to pin him down and on several occasions, he has made his “normal” counterparts bite the dust.

G. Spencer Alexander (32) of Tamil Nadu, who is here to participate in the 4th National Chess Championship for the Deaf, was not able to participate in the World Chess Championship for the Deaf in Hungary in 2006 as he failed to arrange Rs 1 lakh for air tickets.

Ranked No. 1 among hearing impaired chess players, he is ranked 1,836 in the open category. Neither the government, nor any NGO came forward to help him.

Also, in 2005, he could not participate in the Asia Chess Championship for Deaf in Kazakhstan due to the same reason. But this did not shatter his confidence.

With the help of an interpreter, he talks about his achievements. Alexander has been playing since 1990 and has been national deaf champion twice. He has participated in several regular and open chess tournaments.

He stood third in the National Deaf Championship in Bareily in 2006 and ranked first in another such championship held last year in Karnataka.

With no coach or support staff, it was his passion for chess that took him to the No. 1 position. Now, he is honing the skills of about 10 deaf players as a coach.