At age 12, D. Gukesh of Chennai has
become India’s youngest and the world’s
second youngest chess grandmaster. He
achieved the feat by beating Dinesh K. Sharma,
an International Master, at the 17th
Delhi International Open Grandmasters
Chess Tournament in mid-January.
“Before the game I did not feel any pressure,
but during the game I got anxious,”
Gukesh told India Today. “However, after
the opening game I had a good advantage
position, so I felt at ease and converted the
position to a comfortable win.”
Gukesh, who began
playing chess at age 7, practices for seven
hours a day. His father, D. Rajinikanth, is a
doctor, but stopped practicing medicine to
manage his son’s chess career, while
Gukesh’s mother, Padma Kumari, supports
the family through her job as a doctor at a
government hospital.
“It’s quite tough but when you get these
results we are happy for all the sacrifices we
have done for him,” Rajinikanth said.
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
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