K Krishnakumar Memorial Tournament

 

K. Krishnakumar, fondly known as KK, was born in 1951 in Trichur, Kerala. A bright lad, he achieved several academic successes like B.Tech(Metallurgy) from IIT, Madras(1972), and MBA from IIM Calcutta(1974).

Almost as a natural consequence, he started playing bridge in 1971 in IIT and soon became a very good player.

He has played for several, top notch teams Technocrats, Nest Inn and Wellknit from Chennai, Arun Jain's from Delhi and Texan Aces.

He has won several titles some of which are.

 

1. Ruia Trophy Winner
2. Singhania Trophy for Board A Match in Nationals.
3. Khosla Inter State Trophy for Tamil Nadu
4. Winner of HCL Open in 2004 as a member of Wellknit
5. Runners up in 2010 as a member of Arun Jain
6. Runners up in SAARC Bridge Tournament in Kolkata in 2007 Agsar Paints.
7. Winner of pairs partnering KR Venkataraman in SAARC Bridge Tournament in 2007

He has played with several of the best players in the country including K.R.Venkataraman, R.Krishnan, N.R.Kirubakaramurthy, G.Venkatesh, Vijay Phatarphekar, and R.Sreekrishnan to name a few.

He was a master technician ever willing to assist one in finding solutions to bidding related problems.
He was very meticulous in preparing system notes once he decided to partner you.
He was a stickler for punctuality and attached paramount importance to hygiene.

Professionally, he worked in many companies like Special Steels and Nippon Denro Ispat.

He died in 2011 at the young age of 60, leaving behind his wife and two daughters. It is a pity that his precious life was cut short at a relatively young age before he could attain many more laurels. As such, most of the younger players of today would have been unaware of the phenomenon that KK was.

Shri Arun Jain had long had a desire to present this tribute to his memory in the form of an event where we hope all of you will participate in large numbers. Do please honor him

The KK Memorial Tournament will feature two events.

• Swiss Teams - which will be played from Friday, 31st March to Sunday 2nd April.
• IMP Pairs - which will be played on Sunday, 2nd April. It will be a 2 session event of 20 boards each.

Guaranteed Prizes of Rs. 50,000 on offer

The event will be played on RealBridge.

Arun Jain

I had the privilege of playing in partnership with KK for a few years.

His understanding of the technical aspects of the game, the nuances in bidding, the intense competitive streak, are all well known to those who had watched him play.

What made KK unique in Indian bridge was his ability to make his partner feel completely at ease.

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Gopal Venkatesh (Texas)

I first met KK in spring of 2003 in Philadelphia. We played on the same team in the Vanderbilt. Our first match was against the Italians (Fantoni and Nunes played at our table). I was expecting a horrible result, but even though we lost the match, I was surprised at how well KK and his partner had played at their table, duplicating many results by Fantunes.

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R Venkatesh (RV)

K.Krishnakumar (KK as he was popularly known), got back to serious competitive bridge, post his IIT/IIM days, after he moved back to Chennai in mid to late 90s.

I have fond memories of playing in the same team as KK, for Well Knit and achieving some.of my biggest successes.  KK was not only a very good player, but could get the best out of various sponsors and a fantastic co-ordinator (put together very strong teams for Well Knit, Texan Aces and Arun Jain).

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Keyzad Anklesaria

When we bridge players talk about the legends of Indian Bridge, I would definitely say that Krishnakumar, fondly known as KK, is one amongst them.

 

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KRV

I knew K.K.for more than 20 years. He was 2 years senior to me in age. We quickly developed a bond due to our passion for finding the innate beauty of bridge hands. We played as partners in many state and zonal level tournaments with significant success.

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Nest Inn

KK was an extremely polished person and an excellent bridge player.

When I called him to be part of NEST INN, he agreed immediately and was part of the team till he passed away.

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Puneet Gangal

My association with KK dates back to the mid-eighties, when I met him in Delhi for the first time and saw him play in DBA. He stood out as a thorough gentleman and a very polished individual.

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• Teams of up to 8 people are permitted
• Availability of Video and Audio is Mandatory for all players. Failure to be visible and audible will attract penalties.
• Withdrawals mid way through the tournament will affect the whole event and therefore not allowed.
• Entry Fee : Rs. 2,000 per team

Pay Entry Fee and Register

 

The event shall be played on RealBridge on Sunday, 2nd April.

Entry Fee : Rs. 600 per pair.

Trios are not allowed.

Attractive Cash Prizes*

* Video and Audio Mandatory to be eligible for prizes

Pay Entry Fee and Register

 

 

 

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