Indian volley great Jimmy George was an avid chess player, who could play blindfolded

Did you know that Indian volleyball great Jimmy George was an avid chess player who used to play blindfolded with his brothers and friends? His brother, Sebastian, shared this not-so-well-known fact about Jimmy on the eve of the Jimmy George Award function at Peravoor in Kannur.

A 'chess cafe' adjacent to the Jimmy George Sports Academy is also set for inauguration on the same day. "There will be a gallery with Jimmy's memorabilia at the Good Earth Chess Cafe," Sebastian said.

Jimmy had six other siblings, and the band of sports stars was famously called the 'George Brothers'. One of them, Dr Mathew George, bagged a historic bronze for Kerala at the National Junior Chess Championship in Kolkata in 1975.

"Jimmy, too, was an excellent chess player; he used to play blindfolded. He had a good memory, he could recollect moves easily," said Sebastian, former state volleyball captain. Even when he went to play in Italy, Jimmy maintained correspondence with the chess fraternity in his hometown of Peravoor. Jimmy was one of the first Indian stars to explore professional European leagues, playing in the Italian Volleyball League.

Sebastian shared two letters Jimmy sent to his chess connections in Peravoor while he played in Italy. In one of those letters, addressed to Mr. Haridas, Jimmy enquired about a local chess tournament. He urged the organisers to make the event successful and recommended extending invites to local players namely 'Kunjappa Master' and 'Manjappally'. "The participants should be happy," he wrote. Another letter, which Sebastian recently accessed, was sent by Jimmy to his 'chess friend' Kunjappa Master from Treviso in Italy.

"Jimmy donated chess boards to the Queens Chess Club instituted at Peravoor. It was renamed Jimmy George Memorial Chess Club after his death," Sebastian said.

Jimmy was one of the greatest volleyball players to emerge from India, whose legacy remains strong after 37 years since his untimely demise. He died in a car accident in Italy in 1987 at the age of 32.

Jimmy was feted with the Arjuna Award at 21, making him the youngest volleyball player to receive the sporting honour. He was part of the legendary 1986 Asian Games bronze-winning Indian side that comprised K Udayakumar, Cyril C Valloor, G E Sridharan, Abdul Basith and P V Ramana, among others. Ramana is the father of badminton ace P V Sindhu.

The Jimmy George Foundation Awards for 2023 and 2024 will be presented to Olympians M Sreeshankar and Abdulla Aboobacker by Dronacharya awardee Robert Bobby George and football great I M Vijayan at Peravoor on Friday.