Indian chess has never had it so good

Indian chess has been a world power for some time now but the sport in the country has never had it so good, says Partab Ramchand. The juggernaut has just rolled on since last year when the men and women completed a unique double in the Chess Olympiad, and Indian men players have had the spotlight firmly turned on them when it comes to the international stage, he points out – there are 12 Indians in the top 100 in the FIDE rankings. Lately, the women have been performing admirably too and there are now ten Indians in the top 100. It is clear that there is a healthy rivalry among the Indian chess players and this is bound to benefit the game enormously, and what Divya Deshmukh did in Batumi, Georgia, late last month deserves special attention, he says

Indian chess has been a world power for some time now but the sport in the country has never had it so good. The juggernaut has just rolled on since last year when the men and women completed a unique double in the Chess Olympiad. Then D. Gukesh won the world title, defeating reigning champion Ding Liren from China, in Singapore. Shortly afterwards, Koneru Humpy won the world rapid title.

Indeed, rarely does a week pass without an Indian chess player achieving a significant feat in some corner of the world. But what Divya Deshmukh did in Batumi, Georgia, late last month deserves special attention. The 19-year-old from Nagpur won one of the most prestigious tournaments – the FIDE Women’s World Cup title – coming through a gruelling knock-out competition, outwitting rivals stronger and much more experienced after starting out as the 15th seed. That she defeated another Indian, Humpy, in the final underlined the country’s domination of the event.

Two other Indians, D. Harika and R. Vaishali, made it to the quarterfinals. It marked the first time that four players from a single country reached the quarterfinals of the event which also serves as a qualifier for the next Women’s Candidates tournament. In the process, Divya became the fourth women’s GM in the country alongside Harika, Humpy and Vaishali and the 88th Indian GM in all.

Indian men players have had the spotlight firmly turned on them when it comes to the international stage. Not surprisingly, there are 12 Indians in the top 100 in the FIDE rankings including three – R. Praggnanandhan, Arjun Erigaisi and Gukesh occupying the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 slots. Lately, however, the women have been performing admirably and there are now ten Indians in the top 100. Last year Humpy who is the highest ranked Indian at No 6 became the world rapid chess champion for the second time. She had won the title for the first time in 2019 after coming back from a two year maternity sabbatical besides being runner up in 2023. Vaishali, Pragg’s elder sister along with her brother became the first siblings to have GM titles besides being the first pair of siblings to qualify for the Candidates tournament. She, Harika and Divya are in the top 20 in the FIDE rankings.

At Batumi, Divya, whose parents are both doctors, had first held Humpy to a draw to force the final into the tie-breaker which she won to clinch the title. Humpy at 38 was twice Divya’s age and, equally interestingly, Humpy became a GM in 2002 while Divya was born in 2005. Divya’s – and India’s – stunning success should inspire young girls to take up chess as a career. The huge media attention she received could encourage more and more parents to make their daughters to learn chess. And India needs more girls to move the pieces on the chessboard.

Though the current Indian line-up looks good enough to retain the Olympiad gold next year, it is imperative that the country needs to spot and nurture fresh young talent. Indian chess administrators have to make long-term plans for women’s chess and should implement them quickly. After identifying a fairly large group of promising girls, they need to be properly trained and provided systematic coaching, They should also organise more high0level tournaments for women in India.

It is clear that there is a healthy rivalry among the Indian chess players and this is bound to benefit the game enormously. They are competing with each other, pushing each other to greater heights. And this is reflected by the rankings which has India at No. 2 in both men and women. Among men, they are behind only USA and ahead of China, while among women they rank second to China and are ahead of Ukraine. The domination of Indian chess is at an all-time high and the way things are going, the players have the skill to take the country to the very top of the pile in the near future.       

Only last year, former world champion Garry Kasparov, while hailing Gukesh’s victory, spoke about the Indian dominance as “shifting tectonic plates in the sport’s global order”.  He has always had a healthy respect for five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand and his unique contribution to Indian chess. “The children of Vishy Anand are on the loose,” he wrote on X. “Look at the names of many of the top junior players in the USA and England to see that the Chinese and Indian diaspora are just as passionate to achieve at chess.”

Anand, who was keenly following Divya’s progress, hailed the teenager’s win and called it “a great celebration of Indian chess”.  At 55, he is still very much around playing the role of mentor to all the players, besides being FIDE Deputy President and still occupying the No. 13 slot in the rankings.

(The writer is a veteran sports writer who spent his career working for The Indian Express and The Telegraph and Sportsworld. He lives in Chennai.)