An 86th Chess Grandmaster for India

India got its 86th chess grandmaster on May 15 when 19-year-old LR Srihari finally earned a third norm that made him eligible for the title. It had been a long time coming and hadn’t been easy. He himself thought he should have got it last year but narrowly missed it. And then there was a poor run. In this tournament however, he was unbeaten for the first eight games of the nine-match round robin. He played numerous other grandmasters and, while most games were drawn, defeated two. It was enough to fulfil the conditions that govern how norms are achieved.

Srihari’s big moment, as he has said in media interviews, was when during a tournament two years ago he unexpectedly found himself playing against Magnus Carlsen, who is the world’s best player and, according to many, perhaps the best of all time. Srihari lost but it inspired him to keep pushing. In that tournament he managed to get his second norm. A few months earlier he had got his first. But, after Qatar, he struggled, coming very close but never managing to reach it. It took a year and a half more.

He is from Chennai, which also has a huge number of grandmasters. This is not a coincidence. Viswanathan Anand, India’s first grandmaster who went on to become world champion, has been both inspiration and mentor for children taking to chess. Age is the key to becoming a grandmaster. Most start off in chess when they are five or six years old but there has to be the infrastructure to realise their potential. That is also what Anand has managed to provide. From present world champion D Gukesh, to R Praggnanandhaa, who has made a reputation for often defeating Carlsen, Chennai is the centre of the Indian chess world and Srihari’s achievement reaffirms it.

ChennaichessgrandmasterIndiaLR SrihariNews BriefWeb Exclusive