Examples

VLADIMIR KLASAN, CHESS PLAYER IN THE KINGDOM OF SILENCE
To Be a World Champion Sometimes
Hearing problems were not identified until he was five years old. It will close some paths for him but open the most important one, his own. He had to learn early on to cope with the weight and cruelty of life, and to fight. Thus, from his native Inđija, he reached the three biggest championship titles: European, World and Olympic. His formulas are simple, but one needs to rise up to them. And one needs to be able to hear them. Perhaps we could be taught this by those to whom nature has denied this gift

By: Aleksa Komet
Photo: Archives of the interviewee

”The best I have heard is silence!” – Sometimes and somewhere, in our world of noise, the words of Boris Pasternak still resonate, as nostalgia for the lost order over which peace reigns. From that realm, from time to time, as if behind a sheltered stage, people emerge who carry the same turmoil and earthquakes as us ... but keep them in silence.
Vladimir Klasan is a person with impaired hearing – a chess player, an international master, the only one who managed to win three great titles: Olympic, World and European. However, if his boyish wishes had been fulfilled, he would have preferred to achieve the fame of a winner in football, which he also trained in his native Inđija.
– I loved football and played it with great enthusiasm. Like all other boys, I imagined myself as a big football star, but I obviously wasn’t up to it. While I was thinking about what other sport to dedicate myself to, I was surprised by the recommendation of my then football coach to try chess, at the youth championship of Inđija, where a dozen competitors appeared. I accepted, without any preparation, and won the penultimate place. At that time, I could not even guess that this was actually the beginning of something that would bring me incomparable life pleasures.
The first bad experience did not sway him. Chess started to win him over, he went to a local club, started playing with retirees and the following year he won first place in the same competition.
– My talent quickly came to the fore, but the beginnings were still difficult. There were no real instructions or recommendations, and it was difficult to find proper literature. I am especially sorry that I did not have a coach then, because it was expensive, and I did not have the opportunity to go to tournaments. If I could have afforded all that then, I am convinced, today I would be an even better chess player, maybe even a grandmaster.
Even today, Vladimir still has no coach. After the first experiences that he gained on his own, during which his parents provided him the most support, he got in touch with chess players who have a similar handicap, and who had already played in competitions around the world. Joining the national team gave him the opportunity to finally show his talent.
– At the first competition, the World Championship in 2008, I won a bronze medal. Then I gained self-confidence, met the competition, my appetites increased and four years later I became a world champion. This was followed by triumphs at the European Championships and the Olympic Tournament. The Olympic title always has a special significance, even though it is a team competition. Those titles were full satisfaction for the enormous effort invested. Namely, I have always suspected: no matter what you do, the results will come if you try hard enough to achieve them.

CARRY YOUR BURDEN

Vladimir was diagnosed with hearing problems only at the age of five, and since then he has started using hearing aids. With additional training, he was ready to go to regular school – I always sat in the front row because of better communication with the teacher. I admit that I had a feeling that some children were consciously avoiding me, maybe because of hearing, maybe because of speech or something else. I really was not indifferent about that, especially in the lower grades, but the older I got, the more immune I became and I didn’t pay so much attention to their attitude.
Maybe that was what made him want to prove himself.
– My handicap showed me, in a way, the path I should take. I had a great desire to prove: if I don’t hear, it doesn’t mean that I don’t have enough intellect and that I don’t deserve someone’s respect. I had no idea that chess would be a tool that would help me show what I can achieve in life. Now I know that this magic game is an ideal opportunity for many people who have a certain handicap in life. It can encourage people, motivate them, make them recognize themselves and make them face what they can and what they feel they are unable to accomplish.
Life has forced him to face many injustices, but one of them, which he still faces, not only him but also his colleagues, almost causes disbelief.
– We, athletes with impaired hearing, and visually impaired and blind are in the same situation, are fighting for the state to recognize us and equate us with the Paralympians. We have almost no rights, national awards, pensions, which would mean a lot to us in every way, and especially as satisfaction for everything we have achieved so far. I support the Paralympic movement and I admire their results, but I cannot understand the fact that the state is neglecting us. It is an injustice that continues to this day.
It is difficult to understand such an attitude in front of people who show extraordinary strength, first of all in their life struggle, and then struggle with the rivals behind the chessboard. Their stories are a great and realistic lesson for many who feel faint in the face of everyday life’s burdens.
– My life motto is: just work, work and work! It will pay off eventually. You have to be persistent and dedicated to what you do, but you also have to have a certain amount of luck, which will not betray you if you are strong and brave.

DO NOT REMAIN IN DEBT TO YOURSELF

It is especially important that Vladimir has achieved the desired order in his private life as well. With his wife Dejana, he has a six-year-old son Andrej, who is a special attraction in their lives.
– My wife and I work, but we are completely dedicated to our son. We watch him grow and gain first experiences. He is very interested in chess and I hope that he will also try to prove himself in it. He already knows some basic things, sometimes he draws figures according to his rules, and he always defeats me. He is our greatest joy, through him we have a better view of our lives, in which there have been different, sometimes very difficult experiences.
Any of Vladimir’s lessons would be very useful for all people, and especially for people with certain health disabilities. The most important of these would begin with well-known words.
– We should always remember that life is very difficult and cruel. That we never know what tomorrow brings. To the children I meet, and to my son, I often repeat: whatever they want in life, they have to fight for it, to work very hard. Nobody will bring anything to our table and say ”Help yourselves”. We must do our best and then, whatever it is, we will be at peace with ourselves and aware that we are not indebted to ourselves.
It seems that this is one of the ways for a person, in this painful time, to gain what we all lack – a little joy, as the final measure of everything we have given to ourselves, others, and even the entire life.
– I am a happy man. I can rejoice, but not so much in big things, as in small things. They make me happy – to play with a child, to spend time with family, close and dear people, to joke and laugh with them. That is what is incomparable in my life. And, of course, to be a world champion sometimes!
Every life story can be a useful lesson, provided we know how to hear it. Perhaps we could be taught this by those to whom nature has denied this gift.

***

Let us be united, alive and healthy
His goals are still quite clear.
– As for my private life, I do not have any excessive ambitions, except that we are united, alive and healthy. As for chess, I want to be the world and European champion again. As long as I consider myself to belong to the top of the world, I will try to win as many medals as possible. My wish is to one day come out of this sport as one of the best in the category of people with hearing impairment.