Chennai lad hopes to make it big in chess

A young Chennai lad drew huge inspiration from world champions like Magnus Carlsen and Anand Viswanathan to drive himself on towards becoming a grandmaster. The 16-year-old Arjun Kalyan placed third and became an International Master (IM) at the 38th Benasque Chess Open 2018 held from July 5 to July 14 this year.

Arjun won an IM norm by beating Grand Masters Mihail Marin from Romania and Santos Ruiz Miguel from Spain. In the very next tournament he got his first GM norm in the Biel Chess Festival 2018 in Biel, Switzerland, held from July 23 to August 1.  He also defeated GM Aravindh Chithambaram from India and GM Zoler Dan from Israel. Strangely, he feels it’s a bit of a struggle to play and beat his compatriot Indians at chess while it is easier to beat foreign opponents.

The class XI Commerce stream-student of Vellammal Vidyalaya, Ayanambakkam and chess master was a relative latecomer to chess late as he took ito it at the age of eight. Ranked 6th in India in the ‘Under - 16 age category’, Arjun is grateful to his coach A.L. Kasi from T Nagar Chess Academy, Chennai. From his first IM norm in August 2017 in Badalona, Spain to achieving his second IM norm in Isle of Man, UK in September 2017 and till date Arjun has set a powerful record to go a long way in future. But his immediate goal is to become a Grandmaster and work towards making his dream a reality by becoming World champion in the near future.

Arhun did not ignore his academics in between playing a handful of tournaments since the time when he debuted in an international tournament three years back in UAE. “Yes, the game helps students like him remain focused with full concentration in academics too and Arjun Kalyan is a classic example of balancing both, chess and education,” his coach Kasi shared cheerfully. Getting the FIDE rating at the age of 10, he began attending tournaments across India and overseas, with parents’ support.

“With eagerness to learn and hunger to succeed Arjun Kalyan showed all the hallmarks of a champion ever since he joined us. His incredibly strong character was reflected on the board when he returned after a short break to appear for his class X board exams to clinch the 3rd IM norm in Benasque, Spain this month to become an International Master. We don’t see such commitment and passion in many students of that age. Most of the promising players drop out and quit after their board exams to pursue higher education, taking with them their rankings, medals, memories and India’s hopes. We were very happy when Arjun joined us back to pursue his dream after scoring a good 93% in his Class X exams, despite spending most of his time preparing for his chess tournaments,” he added while talking on Arjun’s passion and dedication for the game. Arjun spends sic hours a day on an average on chess, besides playing outdoor games like badminton or reading a novel as a stress buster.

A couple of impressive and memorable strokes Arjun can remember includes draws against legendary chess players Alexei Shirov, a former World number 2 and Nigel Short, a former World number 3. And he always says, “Just enjoy and play passionately and don't punish yourself for the past mistakes you have made in this game.”