KT seen Soy Guru behind the Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 341 Organiser | July 8, 2018 THE saga of Arjun’s prowess and repute is patchy without the mention of the punctilious training of his Guru Dronacharya. Similarly, behind the glory of the world’s second youngest Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa, lies the hard work of his mentor RB Ramesh = Prashanth Vaidyaraj T 12 years, 10 months and 13 days Chennai's Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu created history as he became the second youngest Grandmaster (GM) in the world He has a FIDE (World Chess Federation) rating of 2529. He achieved his first GM norm at the FIDE World Junior Chess Championship in November 2017 where he finished with 8.0 points. He bagged his second norm at the Heraklion Fischer Memorial GM Norm tournament in Greece in April 2018. On June 23 , 2018 he achieved his third and final GM norm at the Gredine Open in* Urtijei, Italy by defeating GM Luca Moroni in the eighth round to become the 2nd youngest person ever to achieve the status of GM. Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine had achieved the GM title at the age of 12 years and 7 months. Sowing the Seeds of Passion Praggnanandhaa's extraordinary feat was Possible because of his dedication and hard work of many years. Equally Paramount were the role of his parents ‘and coach who initiated him into the sport and then hand-held him thus far. His sis- ter, Vaishali too is a professional chess player like him and has won her second WGM (Woman Grandmaster) norm, Their proud parents have been their backbone and have supported them throughout.Infact, their mother, Nagalakshmi, accompanies them during the tour- ‘naments and takes care of their food and provides the much required emotional support. In an interview to Chess Base India, a Chess news portal, Nagalakshmi said that she never knew that her children would be famous chess players but she allowed them to pursue their own interests. She said that she never pressurised her children and believes that parents should not coerce their children either in studies or sports. Instead, if they lose or don't do well, they should understand why they lost and the parents should encourage them to do better and allow them to improve on their own. Praggnananchaa’s parents A Rameshbabu and Nagalakshmi today would be happy at their decision for introducing Chess to their children so that they are diverted away from watching long hours of television. Praggnanandhaa’s elder sister start- fed playing chess but it soon caught Praggnanandhaa's imagination too. Since then, both the parents have been extremely supportive of their children’s interest in Chess Praggnanadhaa's Dronacharya While parents provide all support and assistance in their profession, the role of a coach in Chess is equally paramount, The coach not just trains them in strategy but gives a com- plete knowledge transfer, habit trans- fer and prepares his wards psycho- logically too. Praggnanandhaa was trained under his coach and mentor RB Ramesh in Chennai. Today Ramesh RB, is not just a proud man because of his ward who. has become the 2nd youngest GM butis also witnessing his dream of a professional training academy for Chess come true. Ramesh RB and his wife Aarthie Ramaswamy are the founder and mentors at Chess Gurukul which they started in 2008 with the aim of providing professional ~— Quick facts about Praggnanandhaa ‘= Child Prodigy: Won World Youth Chess Championships U-8 and U-10, boys’ titles in 2013 and 2015 respectively. = Chess in the family: Elder sister R Vaishali 16, also a promising player has won the U-12 & U-14 girls’ titles at the World Youth Championship. Has won her second WGM (Woman Grandmaster) norm, Road to Grand Master ttl age of 10 years, 10 months and 19 days, ‘© Won his maiden GM norm at the World Junior Championship in Tarvisio, Italy in November 2017. ‘Completed his second norm with a win inthe final round-robin match atthe Herkalion Fischer Memorial GM norm tournament in Apri 2018. © Got his thir atthe 4th Gredine Open in June 2048 '= Made History: Praggnanandhaa's 3rd GM norm that made him the 2nd youngest GM in the history ofthe game was with a performance of 2710! It Tequites a performance of 2600+ to make a GM norm. Chess training and nurturing for young minds. ‘Speaking to Organiser on what Praggnanandhaa’s achievement means, Ramesh says, “It is a very significant achievement as_some- thing as big as becoming a GM has been achieved at such a young age. This also brings focus in him, clears all his doubts about his future career and will allow him to pursue Chess further and aim higher. This title will bring him great confidence that he ‘can become a world champion. This certainly requires lot of hard work. His title is also significant for us as it is good to have more heroes for the game for tohers to look-up to and IT is a very significant achievement as something as big as becoming a GM has been achieved at such a young age” © In.2016, Praggnananchaa became the youngest International Master at the | | | | | emulate, Few years ago, we used to look up to Grandmaster from other countries but in the last decade or so wwe have our own heroes and so, we need not look up to foreign icons. Talking about how his training went, Ramesh says that there are two aspects of the training .e Technical and Psychological. “Technical train- ing involves strategy, opening, mid- dle and end moves. The psychologh cal aspect is very important as we ‘need to motivate them and make them fee! that isnot bad if they don't win. We also teach them to be grounded even in success.” Pathway to Success Their formula for coaching has worked wonders, After A decade since they started, students of Chess Gurukul have won 29 medals at World Youth Chess Championships, 39 = =medals in Asian Youth Championships, 17 in Commonwealth and 33. National Chess Ties. Another ward, Aravind Chidambaram became @ Grand Master (GM) at 16. “We can produce more than 10 GM's from our acade- my’, says Ramesh. Inthe true sense, July 8, 2018 | Organiser 135CL sco So . Chess Gurukul | ‘Chess Gurukul’ was started by | Grandmaster Ramesh RB and his | wife Aarthie in 2008 in Chennai in a rented place with the aim of pro- viding professional coaching in | Chess to talented young players. Students of Chess Gurukul have | won 29 medals at World Youth | Chess Championships, 39 medais in Asian Youth Championships, 17 in Commonwealth and 33. in | National Chess Titles. Together, | the couple have been nurturing | the students at Chess Gurukul for a decade now. ‘GM Ramesh RB Ramesh RB is one of India’s finest Chess coach- es. He was the official commenta- tor for the Anand vs Carlsen World chess Championship Match in 2013. He won the British chess Championship in 2002 and ‘Commonwealth chess Championship in 2007. He is a FIDE trainer and has served as he is the Dronacharya for Chess in India today. The journey of Ramesh, today recognised as one of the foremost Chess coaches in the country, has been as dramatic as his moves on the board. Narrating his journey, 36 | Organiser | July 8, 2018 the coach of the Indian Olympiad team in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. His Passion for chess and training has helped raise many ‘young talents achieve big success in their career through Chess Gurukul. This includes more than 10 Grandmasters, including Praggnanadhaa. He is also the author of critically acclaimed book ‘on Chess “Fundamental Chess: Logical decision making * WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy She is the former World U-18 Girls chess Champion in 1999 and the Indian National Women Champion in 2003. Married to GM Ramesh they are the first Grand Master couple of India! Aarthie is also a FIDE arbiter and member of the FIDE Tournament Rules and Regulations Committee. She has been the trainer of the medal win- ning Indian youth and Junior teams for Asian and World chess championships, several times. Ramesh says, “| started playing » RAMESH’S passion for Chess graduated his interest in training others and he quit his job in 2008 to start the Chess Gurukul a Grand Master in 2003 when he was 27. His passion for Chess grad- uated his interest in training others. Despite the hectic schedule and job constraints, Ramesh won the Commonwealth Chess Championship in 2008. That was when he decided to shift the gears. “I quit my job in 2008 and started Chess Gurukul. | felt this was my calling to train others in Chess’, he says. All that they have achieved in the last decade has been without any Support from the State or Central Governments, tells Ramesh. Chess Gurukul runs in a rented accommo- dation even today. But it's the pas- sion that keeps dishing out wonders like Praggnanadha, he tells. Praggnanandhaa’s achievement has drawn praise from all quarters. Viswanathan Anand'lauded him and has said that he is not just a strong player but mixes imaginative middle game play with patient endgame skills and is uncompromising in not settling for easy, quick draws ‘Anand also said that he thinks that Praggnanandhaa will go far in his career. When asked about the future of Chess in India, Ramesh says, “India Is doing extremely well even at the world stage. Many GM's have Chess in 1988 when Vishwanathan’, crossed 2700 ELO rating. Many Anand became a Grand Master, as |” youngsters have the potential and was inspired by him. | continued to play chess though | had another job. | was working with Indian Oil as a Deputy Manager’. Ramesh became are well recognised the world over. We are very much respected unlike earlier. Things can only get better from here.” he concludes. .