Marimuthu wins National Schools Chp. for Visually Challenged
15-year-old K. Marimuthu (1539) of Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu won the 1st National School Championship for the Visually Challenged. He scored a crushing 8.5/9.
Prof. Anantharam, the venerable arbiter from Sivakasi, informs us: 'Marimuthu hails from a poor family, studying X Std. He lives with his mother, who is working in a doctor's house. Until September 2015, he was studying in SHNV Hr. Sec. School, Sivakasi under my direct care and he had a rating of 1350. Then he was admitted to a Blind school hostel in Tirunelveli, about 100 KMs from Sivakasi. and Mr. Selva Manikandan, a popular coach in Tirunelveli took charge of him.'
Finishing second was another 15-year-old, Aryan Joshi (1598), of Dombivili in Mumbai who scored 8.0/9, losing only to Marimuthu.
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 2 | K Marimuthu | IND | 1539 | ARGSS Tamilnadu | 8,5 | 48,0 | 40,0 | 45,75 | |
| 2 | 1 | Joshi Aryan | IND | 1598 | CPV Dombivali | 8,0 | 52,5 | 44,0 | 47,50 | |
| 3 | 3 | SomenderKumar | IND | 1303 | AVPKR New dehli | 7,0 | 50,0 | 41,5 | 38,00 | |
| 4 | 23 | Guin Sunilchand | IND | 0 | NAB Odisha | 7,0 | 48,5 | 40,0 | 36,00 | |
| 5 | 4 | R Gopi | IND | 1100 | ARGSS Tamilnadu | 6,5 | 48,0 | 39,5 | 33,25 | |
| 6 | 37 | Kute Omkar | IND | 0 | PR Lunkad Bhosari | 6,5 | 45,5 | 37,5 | 28,75 | |
| 7 | 15 | Dahiya Ashish Kumar | IND | 0 | AVPKR New dehli | 6,5 | 43,5 | 35,5 | 29,25 | |
| 8 | 19 | Gaikwad Rutikesh | IND | 0 | PR Lunkad Bhosari | 6,5 | 43,0 | 36,0 | 33,25 | |
| 9 | 14 | Chaurashiya Adarsh | IND | 0 | NAB Dehli | 6,0 | 46,5 | 38,0 | 28,00 | |
| 10 | 53 | Prakash Ayush | IND | 0 | NAB Dehli | 6,0 | 46,0 | 39,0 | 30,50 |
Marimuthu's credentials:
- Tamil Nadu State Champion for Visually challenged tournament for two consecutive years - 2015 and 2016
- Runner-up in South Zone tournament for Blind held at Ernakulam 2015
- The third player from Tamil Nadu, to qualify for National A (2016) after Muthuraman and Sai Krishna.
- Won the 1st Tamil Nadu premier League for Visually challenged - Madurai, October 2016
- National Schools champion for Visually challenged (under 15) - Shirdi, November 2016.
Marimuthu with his sighted friends from the Sivakasi Chess Club. To the extreme right is Marimuthu's younger brother K. Vigneshwaran.
The 15-year-old talent with Mr. Selva Manikandan, his coach.
Here, Marimuthu is seen with Prof. Anantharam, who used to coach him before.
