New Delhi: More than a week since the country went into jubilance as India scripted history in the world of chess, an ancient game said to take birth in the country. It was a moment of ecstasy for not just the budding chess players but everyone associated deeply with the game of ‘black and whites’ played on a board, one that demands tactical acumen to be ahead of their opponent.
For the first time in the history of chess, India won two gold medals in the Open and Womens’s team events of Chess Olympiad in Hungary, Budapest, last week. It came on the back of the two teams settling for bronze medals in their respective events in the previous edition of the Olympiad held in Chennai in 2022.
INDIA DOMINATE AND WIN OLYMPIAD GOLD 🇮🇳🥇
Their star-studded lineup was simply too strong for the world as @DGukesh @ArjunErigaisi @viditchess @rpraggnachess and @HariChess clinched India’s first-ever open gold! 🙌 #ChessOlympiad pic.twitter.com/0B7s8hukgm
— Chess.com (@chesscom) September 21, 2024
The recent success defined the rise of Indian chess players, particularly the youngsters in both the sides. Or as International Master Tania Sachdev likes to call it as ‘The Golden Period of Indian Chess.’
“One of the most beautiful part about this team that we had in Budapest was more experience with the youngsters. It was the first time (winning gold medals). Vaishali had also been part of the bronze medal-winning team in Chennai in 2022. We had three of us who played before and then we had Vantika and Divya,” Tania Sachdev, who was the eldest member of the women’s team in Budapest, was quoted as saying by Sports Authority of India.
“It was just a perfect mix and the energy that they bought in – their positivity and confidence. Everything fit into place for this gold medal. I see them play and I’m so impressed with their mentality. It’s not just what they do on the board with their mindset. It not just feels truly its golden generation of chess, it’s the Golden Period of Indian chess,” Tania added.
Historic win for India as our chess contingent wins the 45th #FIDE Chess Olympiad! India has won the Gold in both open and women’s category at Chess Olympiad! Congratulations to our incredible Men’s and Women’s Chess Teams. This remarkable achievement marks a new chapter in… pic.twitter.com/FUYHfK2Jtu
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 22, 2024
To understand the history of Indian chess, we must go back to 1961, s when Manuel Aaron became the first International Master in the country. It was less than three decades after Viswanathan Anand attained the Grand Master status as the first Indian (in 1988).
As Yashbir Sharma, who was the first coach of Tania, points out how scores of people in the country started learning chess after Anand’s elevation. Anand, who won five world titles between 2000 and 2012, has undisputedly sown the seeds for a sport not considered to be career-worthy in the country.
“Turning point was Viswanathan Anand winning the world title. Parents realised that money can be made in chess. At one time, Vishwanathan Anand used to earn more than Tendulkar. Chess is played in 190 countries. And Vishwanath Anand has got a villa in Spain. And he is a very modest person, he is epitome of modesty,” Yashbir told News9 Sports.
Anand-Barua days paved way for Indian chess talent
Senior sports journalist Rakesh Rao recounts when India had only Grand Masters in the 1990s when Dibyendu Barua joined Anand as the second GM in India. It only gave the belief that India could compete for a medal at the Olympiad, but that dreams were far from the reach as any team events can never rely on just core players. A team must fire on all cylinders in order to meet the crown.
That’s what panned out for India this time around with many of the current crop of players such as D Gukesh, Arjun Erigiasi, R Praggnanandhaa, and R Vaishali mentored by Anand at the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA). Rao, who has covered the sport for around four decades, highlights the difference between coaching and mentorship.
“This is mentorship and not coaching. When these players say they are part of WACA, it is not that Anand is standing next to them and telling them what to play and how to play. Twice a year he spends time with them in a group and sometimes it is just on a zoom call,” Rao said.
But then why India couldn’t create a crop of players during the days of Anand and Barua a couple of decades back? Rakesh mentioned the lack of age-group competitions in that period was something that didn’t encourage the country to nurture serious talent.
“It was much later in the 90s that the FIDE (global chess body) decided to have age group competition. That means anyone from under 8 to under 10 to 12, 14, 16, 19 and this is where it ended. I mean for your national championship
you had under 19. For world championship, you had under 20, which was considered juniors. So before the age group championships came into being, Anand and Barua had made it big as teenagers as the young talents,” Rao noted.
“Much later, what we saw was people like (Koneru) Humpy and all, which was the next generation, they made it through the age group championship. Suddenly you had a (Pentala) Harikrishna winning the world under 10 and at the beginning of the year 2000. I mean the 2000s that entire decade if you see, there was N Srinath who is the current coach of the men’s team. He won a world under 12 title.
“Anand used to describe it as saying that ‘Rakesh always remember one thing, the quality of competition at these age groups, it’s not great talent to be seen. It’s only to encourage these children to continue to play chess.’ You get awarded, you get rewarded, that’s great. But Indian youngsters started to grab headlines because there were
age group competitions. Not because of any system,” the sports scribe added.
What’s the path ahead?
In the understanding of Rakesh, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) needs to offer more coaching opportunities for younger players to bridge the gap in a country where coaching is expensive. Although he appreciates the federation’s efforts on spending enough amount behind the senior Indian team, a lot needs to be done to strengthen the junior level circuit. More tournaments should be charted out in order to meet the number of young players in the country.
In a contrast view, Yashbir believes the Indian chess federation has done very well as it is run by people who have the understanding of the game unlike the game of cricket which is run by non-playing administrators.
Gukesh’s dream World Championships and young girls to enter chess arena
D Gukesh will be up against China’s Ding Liren in an attempt to claim the World Chess Championship title in the November-December window in Singapore. It will be a cherry on the cake moment for Indian chess if the Tamil Nadu-based player achieves the milestone.
It was a major reason behind Team China benching Liren for the seventh round of India vs China tie during the Olympiad.
“He (Gukesh) will definitely be a world champion. Then there will be a flood of chess game which will be open,” said Yashbir.
Yashbir, who was the former president of the Delhi Chess Association, is of the conviction that Indian women team’s gold medal in particular will encourage young girls in the country to look towards the sport.
“I taught Tania Sachdev when she was at the tender age of 10. She learn chess from me and she was too defensive. She has achieved a lot today. It is a great opportunity for the girls because now the girls will come up. Now they won the gold and more girls will follow,” he concluded,
In this article we look at how India’s long-time dreams of winning Chess Olympiad title came true. It only made special with two gold medals in the Open and Women’s team events in Hungary on September 22. News9 spoke to some experts with the sport to decode the success of Indian teams. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
