NEWDELHI, July 19, 2017- Indian Chess claimed major titles in the recentlyconcluded Commonwealth Chess Championship in New Delhi. Grandmaster and formerworld junior champion Abhijeet Gupta came up with an inspired performance toannex the gold medal.
TheDelhi-based Gupta stretched his total Commonwealth titles to four in the lastfive years and completed a hat-trick of titles. In 2015, he had won the titlein Delhi and had won the 2016 edition at Sri Lanka. Two other Indians, VaibhavSuri, won the silver and the bronze medal went to Tejas Bakre.
TheWomen’s Championship was won by Swati Ghate who defeated Indian junior championKumar Gaurav. The Silver here went to Mary Ann Gomes while last year’s championTania Sachdev had to be content with the bronze.
Therewere also some stunning performances by lesser-known Indian juniors in thechampionship. Indian junior champion Kumar Gaurav caused a major upsetdefeating Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh in the first round. YoungDelhi girl Shanya Mishra stunned veteran Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay in thesecond round.
TheRs. 10 Lakh prize money Commonwealth Chess Championship was held from July 2to10. It was for the first time split in 15 different categories. Apart fromthe open, there were under-8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 categories for boys andgirls separately. The competition witnessed the participation of more than 500players from commonwealth countries. The Open event saw 15 Grandmasters and 14International Masters from 15 countries in action.
Chessmay have been played in India since the 6th Century AD but it was only afterthe grand success of Viswanathan Anand at the world stage that hundreds ofyoungsters, especially school-going boys and girls took to the game seriously.
Theprogress made in the last few years by the Indian players is truly remarkable.The last three decades has seen the emergence of star players includingDibyendu Barua, Praveen Thipsay, Abhijit Kunte and Swati Ghate. PentalaHarikrishna, Baskaran Adhiban, Vidit Gujrathi, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, SasikiranKrishnan, S.P. Sethuraman and Parimarjan Negi have emerged as formidableGrandmasters.
Inchess history, Delhi’s Parimarjan Negi is the second youngest player ever tobecome a Grandmaster. He achieved this feat in the year 2005-06 when, within aspace of a year, Negi became an International Master and a Grandmaster, at theage of 13 years and 142 days, second only to Sergey Karjakin, but beating WorldChampion Magnus Carlsen to the record.
KoneruHumpy, Dronavalli Harika and Tania Sachdev are well-known names among womenchess players in India. Humpy become a Grandmaster at a tender age of 15 years,eclipsing the record held by Judit Polgar of Hungary by three months.
TaniaSachdev is probably the most recognizable face in Indian chess after VishyAnand. She was awarded the Women Grandmaster title in 2005, following which, inthe years 2006 and 2007, Tania won the National Women’s ‘A’ title. In 2008, shebecame an International Master.
BeforeAnand’s advent, the only known chess name in the country was that of ManuelAaron, who dominated chess in India in the 1960s to the 1980s. He was thenational champion nine times between 1959 and 1981 and was India's first playerto be awarded the International Master title in 1961.
Butit was seven-time world champion (between 2000 and 2014) Anand who engineered asharp spike in the number of Grandmasters and International Masters who nowcompete and win laurels at the world’s biggest tournaments.
Today,India has 42 active GMs and 89 active International Masters, with an averageFIDE rating of 2670. India is ranked fifth in the world among 174 countries,behind Russia, China, America and Ukraine.
Thereare five Indian players in the top 100 of the world, and 10 women GMs,including Koneru Humpy – the second ever woman Grand Master to cross the 2600FIDE rating mark after Judit Polgar.
Indianshave won the Junior World Championship twice since Anand in 1987, withHarikrishna and Abhijeet Gupta achieving the feat in 2004 and 2008respectively. Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli and Soumya Swaminathan have wonthe Girls’ Under-20 World Cup in 2001, 2008 and 2009 respectively.
Theadvancement in India’s ratings has paid off in elite tournaments such as theNorway Chess Tournament, which is open only to 10 Super GMs, in the worldchosen by invitation. Harikrishna, the only Indian besides Anand to be invitedlast year, finished fourth among a star-studded line-up of giants that includedcurrent world champion Magnus Carlsen and former world champions VladimirKramnik and Veselin Topalov.
Atthe Gibraltar Chess Festival 2016, 19 Indian chess masters finished in the top150, including two in the top ten. Besides, Indian chess players also shoneindividually in recent months. GM Abhijeet Gupta’s performance in the ReykjavikOpen, where he won ahead of two other top-ranked players, and Surya ShekharGanguly’s victory at the strong Bangkok Open have been noteworthy feats.
Chesshas a particularly strong following in Delhi, Kolkata and across the southernstates of India. Sponsorships are not a problem for chess players anymore.Anand’s success has ensured that the stars of the future generation have enoughbacking.
Surely,Indian chess is thriving right now. The main reason is the vast number ofage-group tournaments the children get to play every year. The All India ChessFederation (AICF) has worked hard to build such a strong base for the players.Then of course, Anand is such a major factor. He continues to inspire all.
