SriLanka, Sept. 24 -- I have always had a problem with his name. I first met Efstratios Grivas, a chess grandmaster from Greece, in Tromso, Norway in 2014 when he was the coach of the Sri Lankan team for the Chess Olympiad and I was the non-playing captain cum coach. 'Grandmaster' seemed too formal. 'Grivas' was too casual. 'Efstratios' was hard to pronounce. I called him 'captain.'

Now, 12 years later, he is once again our coach and I am also here in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for the Chess Olympiad or rather the Congressional Sessions and Election of the world body for chess, FIDE. He is the official 'captain'. I am the official delegate of Sri Lanka.

A few weeks ago, when we came to an agreement about this particular assignment, I told h...