Russian chess coach sees great potential in Orissa

Russian chess coach Alexander Fominyh sees chess having great potential in in Orissa and feels the players of the state need encouragement. ‘‘I see a bright future of some of the budding chess players of Orissa,’’ Grandmaster Fominyh said at Rourkela. Fominyh, who participated in Chess Olympiad in 1988 and World Chess Championship in 1998, was in Rourkela to train promising chess players of the state Utkal Ranjan Sahoo and Kiran Manisha Mohanty on the invitation of the Sports Division of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). The Russian coach expressed high opinion about the two players and said, ‘‘they are exceptionally brilliant and if they try, they can become world champion one day.’’ Fominyh, who bagged the GM title in 1993, interacted with the budding talents and gave tips to them at the chess camp of the RSP.