King of board and King of hearts! A legend in the making

King of board and King of hearts!
A legend in the making

"Mama!! Look! He is Siddhanth Lohia, I want to be like him." A proud coach,balaji, overheard a young chess aspirant point out to his mother. This suffices to portray Siddhanth’s credentials.

Let us introduce to you our most beloved and revered player Siddhant Lohia of Dhirubai Ambani International School with an ever rocketing ELO a colossal 1458, with his last improvisations being 100 points in one go by crushing players with ELO's 500 points higher than his! So there you go the grand introduction.

Now we will give you reasons that make him the 'King of Board'. Currently he is the highest rated player in the state in his category(U-9). His benchmark achievements include Gold at Maharashtra U-7 state championship 2012,Gold in Below 1600 rating Coulsdon open in London ,silver at St.Patrick's Annual chess event Singapore,Silver at Asian schools chess championship, Silver at Maharshtra U-9 state chess championship and he set new record by raising 100 ELO points in 30 days. For an 8 year old playing in the cut throat boys category of a difficult and a game of geniuses is an unconventional accomplishment. 

Siddhant doesn't just play he plays in style while most of us who believe chess players play the game demurely and thoughtfully, Siddhant will be a treat to watch because this genius manages to have all his strategies worked out well before and plays during the game, some believe even if blindfolded as though he already knows all the moves of his opponents! 

But despite all this our SMCA king is barely resting on his laurels instead he is constantly striving to improve his game to the extent that he now plays exceptional world class chess, a feat that has earned him the reputation of a player who plays solely to win. Of course, confidence of taking over any challenge against any and every opponent doesn't come without skills, in this case super skills from lightning speed calculations, to a very potential grasping power, an unlimited source of positivism and energy and a risk taking attitude makes him a feared opponent and a respected player.

But don't be fooled by the standard and number of his achievements in chess, he is also a junior Einstein, given his inclination to science, specifically robotics a hobby and interest that he is doing exceedingly well and also rather unusually combines with the above his love for piano on which performs marvelously too. In every sense he breaks the stereotyped personality of chess players through his multifaceted persona. 

A confident and extremely proud coach Fide Master,Balaji says,"Siddhanth has burning passion for chess. He has a unique ability to see the moves deeper with amazing accuracy & lightning speed. He has an incredible gift of vision.

What sets him a part from his compeers is that his plans are based on sound judgement,he has a very good and concrete sense of judgement,rare for someone his age and his endgame skills are reminiscent of the legendary Capablanca.

He displays high level of patience & maturity in converting minute advantages into phenomenal victories and therefore he has without a scope of doubt the ability to become a GM."

Now let us tell you what makes him the “King of Hearts” its because when you try to spot him in a crowd of 8 year olds he is the boy with a 1000 watts smile on his face all day every day, and bright eyes that perfectly display his “Never say No” attitude. This is what makes him the most popular player, be it at the academy, or at the tournaments, or in terms of the number of his fan following in social media But what makes him the 'King of Hearts' is his sunshine smile that he wears on that he will be one of those great players who are not only rare and unique but have the fabulous talent of inspiring hundreds of others who have started their journey with the same dream and this is what makes them players of the century. 

Despite all his feats his father, sushir’s words reflect immaculately how letting your child explore himself is the best road to success, he says,"We are very proud of Siddhanth and we are happy to see him play only because he is happy to play and win, if he goes on to be an IM or GM nothing like it but if not we will still be with him." 

But what his followers & the entire chess fraternity wants from siddhanth is that he continue delivery heart winning performances and keep up his attitude towards chess and life and rest assured he will soon be a legend.

A Quick glance at this second standard student's incredible records and achievements in chess so far!! 

Maharashtra’s Youngest Rated Chess player , India’s no.2 & across the globe he stood at no.7 with an International FIDE Rating of 1351 as per the July 2012 Rating list released by world chess federation ,FIDE. 

Career Milestones:-

Gold Medalist in the Maharashtra U-7 State chess championships 2012
Gold Medalist in the below 1600 International FIDE Rating in the coulsdon open, London.
Gold Medalist In the Rotary Club Rapid Chess Championships 2012
Silver medalist In the Maharashtra U-9 State Chess Championships 2013
Silver medalist in the Asian Schools Chess Championships 2012, New delhi
Silver Medalist in the St.Patricks Chess challenge , Singapore

Some of Siddhanths illustrious victims:-

Nguyen Duc Sang of Vietnam (FIDE rating: 1653)
Aditya Guhagarkar , ELO, 1470----U-9 State Champion 2012
Aditya Mittal , ELO, 1531-----National U-7 Champion 2013
Ridit Nimdia, ELO, 1316----former U-7 State Champion 2011
Joglekar, Abhijeet,ELO, 1715--Seasoned player
Gupta,Rajesh RS,ELO,1742---3 times Mumbai Senior Division Champion
Maitri Choksey, ELO,1376--Mumbai U-10 MSSA Girls Champion, 2012

A visionary's take on Make in India

A visionary's take on Make in India

Although meant for the Indian political and economical transformation, it can be very well applied to any other subject concerning national pride, progress and integrity. They say some things are meant to be impossible.Fortunately for us in the country of dreams, there is no such delusion, we are doers and believers and once we take on something, sky is the limit. Until quite recently we believed that India would be incapable of holding world-class tournaments with the same quality and class that is provided to players abroad, and then this myth was shattered very recently. 

52 year old Praful Zaveri ,a man of multifarious talents and resources, who has vigorously been working for the cause of chess,has finally created the yardstick against which all future tournaments will be measured. His own contribution to Chess had been explicit and significant. He is a Mumbai based professional coach, has authored couple of books on Chess, and a FIDE arbiter, and now he adds another badge to his coat, as the organiser of the grandest Chess tournaments, the country has ever seen. Which has been his vision and his mission for Chess in India, which he has almost single-handedly accomplished with the success of IIFLW event.

World class tournaments are complete with facilities such as a high quality venue, with added amenities such as the game analysis room,media room, live streaming of top games, availability of snacks and beverages, coverage from National and local media, akin to what the Indians are used to seeing for cricket.

Those who have the power and thus the responsibility to take action, always try to subvert from the discussion on our inability to hold such tournaments due to lack of infrastructure, must take note from his endeavour that where there is a will there is a way. 

Praful organised one of the world's biggest junior Chess Championship with the highest prize fund we have ever seen in an Indian based tournaments with the aid of corporate giant 'India Info Line Wealth' (IIFLW) and went on to turn his dream into reality with a one of a kind tournament. 

The event which is nearing its conclusion has won praises and has been acknowledged both nationally and internationally for its management and organisational fluency. It was held at Mumbai's prime location-BKC in the campus of Mount Litera School. It was complete with mandatory high security checks for all players and accompanying persons, who were issued I-cards before entering the tournament area, a step missing in most of our tournaments which can potentially jeopardise the fairness of results. 

However like any remarkable event this too came to concrete reality after a long and tedious journey of 10 odd months recounts Praful.

Bhumika Shah, one of the chess parents at the venue blissfully expresses “Its a great service to us and our kids, Praful sir has truly shown how intent can make a make a difference, by association with corporates he has organised a dream come true tournament for our kids”.

Praful books have in a similar manner inspired many junior Chess players across the country for years. Being both instructive and awe-inspiring to many youngsters, who live by it, including Priyadarshan Banjan, a former student of praful's chess academy who is currently the editor of Chess Base India. 

The best of the things in the world have been the result of ideas, Make in India was one such idea that has conceptualised the union of the public and the private sector, and if we can only think of the idea behind the campaign we will realise that it can be used for other significant causes too. Praful has underlined one such cause that has previously been neglected, but one man's devotion has proved every excuse implausible. We hope he continues his noble work that will change the lives and dreams of the generation to come, and accelerate their journey towards the international platform in Chess. Making India the hub of future Chess champions.

A Legend's tale!

Just like her other legendary predecessors such as Koneru Humpy who revolutionized chess in Andhra Pradesh and Vijayalaxmi did on Tamil Nadu we have our very own in Maharashtra- Divya Deshmukh

Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. Divya Deshmukh who like other 8.5 year olds should be only dreaming of being an astronaut or curing cancer, is rather a believer of doing more than dreaming and thus here she is right on the path speeding towards her destination of becoming the youngest Grand Master of the country and every step she takes towards it is equivalent to a leap. Just like her most recent accomplishment which is at the least nothing if not historical, as she went on to win the World Chess championship in the U-10 at her age! Her deeds speak for themselves but it is known that the chess world is abuzz and marveled by the talent and skill of execution of this junior champion who is almost somewhat of a local legend! And why not she is the world's youngest FIDE Master to having both national and international tournaments right in her bag with multiple national , state & International Gold medals already there is no saying where she will be in the next five years. She has the same quality of taking everybody by surprise by doing things not expected of her at her age and beyond her experiences but then again that is the style of legends.

Its almost like Divya was the destiny's child for chess, as is evident from her career graph and her conduct. She is like a fashioned chess player with her dedication, focus and discipline and also fortunately immense support her parents both of who are doctors by profession. 

Divya is provably the only inevitable heir in line to the throne of becoming the youngest Grand Master of the country. She is way ahead of her contemporaries in terms of experience and results almost like she is on the expressway towards her destination! 

Divya like her predecessor in the world chess is like Judit Polgar, with her current career graph reminding us of the former's earlier days in Chess.It is well established that the Indian Chess circuit is far more competitive than any in the world and that is the reason the most players prefer to increase their rating by playing foreigners, however Divya is not shy of taking risks at all and deems it necessary and natural to play against Indians to increase her rating which anyone from the Chess Fraternity will agree to take immense courage and trust in oneself.

We are sure that we have a lot more magic to behold as she plays in the future. Just like her other legendary predecessors such as Koneru Humpy who revolutionized chess in Andhra Pradesh and Vijayalaxmi did on Tamil Nadu we have our very own in Maharashtra Divya Deshmukh says FIDE Master , Balaji Guttula

She is definitely the one to both look out for and to look forward too. As always we wish her all the best and congratulate her heartily over this achievement!

Mrudul Dehankar : In the shoes of Judit Polgar

She is an absolute creation of nature, fashioned with immense talent!

For everybody else in the country Nagpur maybe synonymous to oranges, or perhaps one of the three cities from the Golden Triangle. However to any of us who have any inclination to the pro chess of the junior league in Maharashtra, nagpur has been synonymous to Divya Deshmukh. 

However power is a very tricky asset for it shifts just as soon as there is a slightest movement in your position. And here we are, and it has shifted, not too far, but to another girl from Nagpur who seems to have just come out of nowhere and no happens to be the equal of Divya Deshmukh in terms of talent and soon enough we are guessing in her collection of laurels too. A glimpse of this was first seen recently in Goa, where Mrudul finished ahead of Divya. With this performance, she crossed the threshold of being ordinary and became extraordinary.

A string of Big Victories over the last six months brought Mrudul into national reckoning, she is currently the Nation's top player in the girls, U-11 category. After claiming the Gold at the National Schools that were recently held in Goa. 

She is an absolute creation of nature, fashioned with immense talent and thus despite the fact that she entered the professional circuit only at the age of 7, unlike most champions that step into it in the formative years, she has re-compensated more than enough and now holds the scepter in her hand with pride and diligence.

She has been the Maharashtra State Champion multiple times, and the other crown jewels of this new found Queen are: Silver in the U-9 Nationals, 2013, 2014; Silver in Asian Youth in the U-10 in Uzbekistan. And she will now be the candidate to officially represent India in the Asian Youth And World Youth Championships, which are to be held in South Korea and Greece respectively. 

And she may have it all right now, but this Dil Mange More starlet, along with her father Vilas, regret on every opportunity missed to make the country and state proud, as was the cause in 2012, when she did not receive clearance for Commonwealth and Asian Youth because of financial problem despite official clearance, but nothing can stop talent from finding its path.However to avoid this scenario in the future it would be great if they have sponsors backing them up. So Mrudul can fulfill her destiny and make our country proud. 

Mrudul apart from being the marvelous chess player that she is, also happens to be a fabulous student academically. She always aces in her class, at the Bhavan's BP Vidya Mandir in Trimurti nagar, and as you can guess she is a total hit in her school. She plays basketball and badminton, when she is not being a sportsperson in training under her Coach, Gurpreet Maras, a determined coach in nagpur who who wants to turn the city into a Mecca for chess in Maharashtra.

Mrudul is a very different person, on and off the chess board and both equally fascinating and fierce aspects are reflected in everything she does, including her game. With the right amount of support she could be the country's next big, as there is a pool of talent waiting to be found in that girl. 

Mrudul's role model, is a predecessor, who too made a start from where she is today. But today she is on the other side of the finish line. Where Mrudul one day hopes to be. None other than Judit Polgar, so much so that she has her poster in her room. 

With a current ELO of 1674, after only four years of training and with no support from a sponsor, if she has come so far then she will definitely make it to the stars with that extra thrust. And hope that her value is recognized sooner than later.

The Champion meant to be!

Nine year old, Aditya Mittal with an ELO of 1750 is one of the country's best pro league players in the junior category, next only to Arya Bhakta who precedes him only with 3 points. 

Aditya currently holds the title of Candidate Master. Some of his most prolific achievements being, Bronze Medal in Asian Schools Chess Championship 2012, New Delhi – U-7 category; Gold medal in National U-7 Chess Championship 2013, Pune; Asian Youth Bronze medalist U-8 category 2014, Uzbekistan and Asian Youth Rapid Gold Medalist in U-8 category 2014, Uzbekistan.

He was an early bird started playing at the age of 4.5 years inspired by his brother Vinayak Mittal to pursue chess. He picked up in no time and showed marvelous potential and in a very short time he became a wizard on advanced techniques initially showing his talent and might only to his family and acquaintances. No surprise that he is keen on strategizing and planning ahead with a great hand eye coordination given that his next favorite thing is solving jigsaw puzzles. 

He is not only a great sportsperson but an excellent student too with great inclination towards mathematics and science. He also won a cash prize of Rs.50,000 for winning a Gold Medal in a nuclear science Olympiad which concluded recently. What we believe is that if it hadn't been chess, it would have been something else: Aditya's brain if it wasn't engaged in chess, it would have been for things like chess.

As contradictory as it seems he also loves to sing and like at everything else he is good at that too. He is very committed and practices for about 2-4 hours on weekdays and more on weekends which are evident of his determination. He is the most inborn and natural player one can encounter. He is immensely patient and is at the very less a reincarnation of some legendary chess player from the past.

Aditya plays precise chess, very clean and very clear, his games seem so simple, yet underneath there is great complexity and brilliance at work.

He is one step away from a world record of crossing the barrier of 2000 ELO points that will put his name down history in golden letters. And nonetheless at the age of nine.

Aditya's father, Nitish believes that his son is amongst many kids from the city who are showing promise and potential however that he and others need to do more to ensure that the best of the best come from our city and state.

And another thing to learn from Aditya would be that without any sort of publicity strategies to hog the limelight and with no media around disseminating his wins and conquests, this kid has done his deliverance.

Aditya is someone whose present achievements prove that he has it in himself to take that extra mile and become a Grandmaster and a legend of our age, he may turn into a terrific chess player, probably of Magnus Carlsen's stature.

A lesson of humility and self help

In the face of factors beyond his control, a man must take control, and if not led by a greater power, lead his fellow men into the path of righteousness.

In the recently concluded World Youth Chess Championships which was being held in Greece. It was a total Indianwale scenario, with Indians delivering not only spectacular performances and captivating the attention of the spectators, but also by winning the maximum numbers of medals, they have clearly managed to stay in the spotlight, despite the participation of 90 odd countries. The light seems to be shining the brightest currently on the next generation Indian Chess Talent.

World Youth Chess Championship is akin to the World Cup in the cricket world, whereas in the latter there are only 10 or 12 countries clash with each other for the ultimate victory;
In the former more than 90 countries take part. Sadly because of the glamour attached to cricket in India, their win concedes a bounteous compensation of their performances through constant media acknowledgement, monetary rewards and grant of celebrity like status over night. However this is only an eluding dream for a chess player, who often struggles even for a recognition. 

This is mainly rooted in the fact that Chess is not a spectator game and thus does not attract much audience, however the above incentives do not have only material value, but very important for motivation and inspiration of the players, who are not only playing for themselves but also for their country. 

Any player who has ever won a tournament, no matter how little or big its scale has known that a lot of efforts, time and sheer determination against all odds, goes into it, particularly when one is playing as a representative of their country, the stakes are too high. So how do they deserved to be treated?

In the World Youth Chess Championship a total of 11 Indian players have won medals. In one of the most prestigious tournaments of the world. There was no reception for them as one would have hoped.

AICF CEO Bharat Singh Chauhan, has set an example by being one of the most committed and dedicated person who has contributed immensely in promoting chess in Delhi has personally received Vantika Agarwal who won bronze medal in the Under -14 girls category at the IGI International Airport along with entire team of Delhi Chess Association.

Bharat Bhayya, is what Bharat is being fondly called in his close circles for his humbleness and supportive nature deserves a pat in the back, this is a gesture which if aspired by all, will go long way in promoting the game of chess in India.

Thus instead of mulling over factors that aren't in our control we should rather take up arms and exemplify to all what is to be done. 

If we can follow this and implement all across the country then it will help us in twofold ways: first, in promoting the game and second, in making the game more popular. And above it will also motivate the ones who are taking pains in preparing for these championships, cutting the corners to meet the expenses in appearing for the championships with due recognition and felicitation of these champions would help them in getting sponsors and ultimately India will be number one in chess in the world.