Honey, We ALL Need Money...

Chess prodigy Ivana Furtado needs money power Pramod Acharya / CNN-IBN Published on Fri, Dec 07, 2007 at 12:37 Panjim: Goa's Ivana Furtado is the youngest world chess champion and she is already working steadily to overtake the other big-wigs of the game. Equally at ease with her playmates as with the 64 squares, eight-year-old Ivana Furtado is a special talent and if you take a numeric test, she'll come out to be one of the sharpest at her age in the world. Her cute smile hides the razor sharp mind of the undisputed World Junior Chess Champion. "I am very, very happy as I have won the world championship. I want to become Grand Master in future," Ivana Furtado, World Junior Chess Champion, says. The little champ made her school proud by pocketing two world championships, one Asian title and two World School gold medals. And though she looks good to catch up with the seniors soon, it's the financial backing that needs to keep pace with her rapid rise. "There is still not enough financial support from authorities. Authorities will have to look at children like Ivana and the laurels that they are earning and support them for their bright future in the sports," Eli Furtado, father of Ivana, says. For now though, she's gunning for Koneru Humpy's crown. ********************************************************************************** The person who wrote this article did Furtado no favors. I found its tone is arrogant and insulting, to say the least. "Gunning for Humpy's crown"? Methinks the little girl has to grow a couple of shoe sizes and put in a hell of a lot more work before she can take on Humpy, who has paid her dues on her way to becoming the second highest rated female player in the world. Mr. Furtado might want to consider getting a better-paying job than looking for hand-outs to support his daughter's chess-playing. We ALL need money, and there are lots of other worthy young chessplayers out there looking for financial support too. Finally, the little girl is NOT "undisputed World Junior Chess Champion." She won a division championship title for her age group and is one of several "world champion" title holders from the Juniors and Girls "World Championship."