While Indians in the chess scene are taking strides in the ongoing FIDE chess World Cup in Goa, Raahul VS of Chennai achieved a feat that he had been trying for years — a Grandmaster title in the ASEAN Championship in the Philippines with a round to spare. As a result, he became India’s 91st Grandmaster.
To become a Grandmaster is no mean feat. One needs three GM norms, a FIDE rating of 2500, and to play a plethora of tournaments. However, there are select international tournaments recognised by FIDE that would award the GM title, if won. That way, Raahul was crowned the GM in this event.
The 21-year-old has been playing the game of 64 squares since the age of six. “I think in the past five years, I would mostly be working on an average of 5-6 hours per day in chess. Recently, I have also allocated separate time for my mental health and training, which has been very helpful in the past year. All this has borne fruit with the title,” he said.
Raahul began playing at a class near his home, which taught many children. What started as an enjoyable hobby soon became serious. He then developed his game in a systematic manner and hasd been training for the past three months under GM Shyam Sundar at Thulir Academy.
Having played several tournaments, Raahul believes that the win to bag the coveted GM title was his best show to date. “There was no particular tournament (that made me play chess seriously); I enjoyed the game, and after seeing good results in state-level events, I was motivated to keep working on the game,” he said. Talking about his performance in the Philippines, he shared, “I had a 2700+ rating performance when I entered the last round. I think apart from two games in the event where I missed my chances, I managed to capitalise on my chances in the rest of the games.”
Raahul is comfortable playing on the board and does not prefer online chess. Yet, his best performance in front of the screen came in 2021, when he clinched the National Juniors Championship. “I became the champion and got selected to the Asian juniors in Sri Lanka, where I became the champion,” he said. Like many budding chess players, Raahul uses the chess engine to improve the quality of his game. “In the current chess world, after a certain level, it’s really hard if we don’t use the chess engines for home preparations,” he reflected. And this is where Shyam Sundar steps in. He guides Raahul on how to improve his game.
In the board events, Raahul has clinched the U20 Asian junior chess championship in 2021. Rewind further down the line, in 2018, he was part of the gold medal-winning team at the Asian Youth Games, winning the U16 blitz format tournament. His goal next year is to close in on the rating to 2600 and establish himself as a strong GM.
Raahul believes that chess academies play a big role in a player’s career, and the ones he trained under over the years have shaped him into a good player. “My academy has created a good environment for me to grow, and the friends with who I train are all strong players. They inspire me to work even harder. Every time I go to the academy, I not only learn my strengths but also what I lack in comparison to the others, which helps me figure out the areas in the game I should improve. All my coaches, Sunitha, Jagadeesan from the Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF), GM RB Ramesh, GM Vishnu Prasanna, GM Swayams Mishra, and now GM Shyam Sundar have played a role in making the player what I am today,” he signed off.
(Written by Ashok Venugopal of The New Indian Express)
