Chessbase India organizes the Super Heroes Cup 2021 with participation of 16 real life super heroes fighting in a knock-out tournament!
The event takes place from 14th-16th May with a total prize fund of around 3.000 euros, involving 16 top Indian differently-abled players. Seven players are visually impaired, six are physically disabled and three players are deaf.
Chessbase India will stream the entire tournament with live commentary by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal, together with special guests.
The selection of players was based on the elo rating of the players, with special spots for female participants.
Starting list of players:
| No. | Name | FED | Rtg | |
| 1 | IM | Shashikant Kutwal | IND | 2182 |
| 2 | Kishan Gangolli | IND | 2128 | |
| 3 | Naveen Kumar A. | IND | 2035 | |
| 4 | Ashish Krishnamurari Desai | IND | 1965 | |
| 5 | FM | Venkata Krishna Karthik K | IND | 1903 |
| 6 | Aryan B Joshi | IND | 1842 | |
| 7 | Patra Subhendu Kumar | IND | 1783 | |
| 8 | Makwana Ashvin K | IND | 1768 | |
| 9 | Soundarya Kumar Pradhan | IND | 1746 | |
| 10 | CM | Samarth J Rao | IND | 1664 |
| 11 | Vaibhav Gautam | IND | 1358 | |
| 12 | Malika Handa | IND | 1345 | |
| 13 | Yashaswi K | IND | 1341 | |
| 14 | Megha Chakraborty | IND | 1232 | |
| 15 | Rathi Himanshi | IND | 1177 | |
| 16 | Kanishri R P | IND | 1098 |
About participants:
IM Shashikant Kutwal was attacked by the Polio virus when he was young, which affected his ability to walk. The disease didn’t stop Kutwal to achieve great results in sports! He was the Winner of the 17th IPCA World Chess Individual Championships in 2017, Winner of 1st Asian Chess Championship for Disabled players, and he became International master in 2017.
Kishan Gangolli is 75% visually impaired, but he is also the reigning Asian blind Chess Champion! He was 6 times consecutive AICF National Champion from 2013-2019, and he was the first and only Indian Chess player to win the gold medal at Asia para games!
Naveen Kumar A. is physically challenged, but he actively plays chess and coaches with great success! In 2020, he was a part of the Indian A team in Online Chess Olympiad. Back in time, in the 2003 national championship, he won bronze, while in 2011 Team championship he took the 1st board prize.
Ashish Krishnamurari Desai is a top rated deaf chess player of India. He was a National deaf champion in 1991, and he was the Gujarat State Champion several times.
Venkata Krishna Karthik K has an orthopedic disorder and vision issues. He was 3 times National Chess Champion for physically disabled persons (2015, 2017, 2018) and he represented his country in Para Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018.
Aryan B Joshi is not only a young chess player but also a state-level swimmer with visual issues. In 2019, he was the youngest participant of the World Senior Chess Championship for visually impaired persons. At the Online Para Olympiad 2020 he represented the Indian chess team, while in 2017 he became National open Chess Champion for blind persons.
Patra Subhendu Kumar is visually challenged but his dedication to chess is shown through his results. He lead B team of India at the 1st FIDE Olympiad for people with disabilities and represented his country at the World Team Chess Championship for blind and visually challenged persons in 2018 and 2019.
Makwana Ashvin K is a visually impaired chess player, but also a trainer. He was a 5 times Vadodra district Khelmaha Kumbh Champion, and he won 12 national open championships for blind persons (from 2005-2017)!
Soundarya Kumar Pradhan is visually impaired but this didn’t stop him to win medals at World Junior Championships (silver in 10th IBCA World Junior Championship for blind and visually impaired persons) and at Asian Para Games (bronze in Asian Para Games in Jakarta 2018).
Samarth J Rao was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, but this didn’t affect his chess life. He won several medals at World Junior Chess Championship for disabilities and he was the State Chess Champion in 2019.
Vaibhav Gautam won many first places in chess despite the diagnose of Cerebral palsy. He was the Winner of Delhi Rapid tournament 2020 for physically challenged players, and took 5th place at the FIDE Open tournament in Faridabad, 2019.
Malika Handa is the 1st Indian who won the gold medal in ICCD World Open Chess Championship (2016)! She won many medals in World events for deaf people, and she was 7 times National Champion in the deaf category!
Yashaswi K took a few titles of the National Chess Champion for deaf players. In the other tournaments, she has won many medals!
Megha Chakraborty won the 2018 Women’s National Championship and at Asia Para Games took several medals! Megha has a visual impairment.
Rathi Himanshi is a 5 times State Championship in Khel Mahakumbh Gujarat for blind women players, and she is 2 times National Women Champion for blined players. Despite this winning titles, she took several medals on national championships.
Kanishri R P took many medals at National Individual Chess Championships for disabled players, and she took part in 3rd Asian Para Games in Indonesia, winning silver and bronze medals!
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