A revolutionary Chess Academy - The Hatsun Chess Academy

A world class residential chess training academy in the making

Vladimir Kramnik vs Magnus Carlsen, Wijk Aan Zee 2008

I sat in the classroom of GM Vishnu Prasanna at the Hatsun Chess Academy, where he asked the students to think what should Black play here. As soon as I saw the position I was quick to understand that provoking e3 might be a good idea so I thought of ...Bg5 and waited for other kids to respond. After a few minutes, Vishnu revealed the answer and it was ...Bg5. The light squares had been weakened, I thought to myself. I was pretty proud! :)

Immediately Vishnu asked the next question - What should Black play here? Isn't it clear? We can start with ...Ne5 or ...Qa8 and attack on the light squares? The other students also echoed my sentiment. But Vishnu asked everyone to think. This is one thing that I observed in the class. There was a lot of silent time given. The idea is to give strong players time to think. And then Vishnu revealed what Magnus had played - ...Rff7!

Why is this even the right move I asked myself. Ne5 or Qa8 is met with Kg1 and you haven't made much headway. Vishnu went on to explain the concept of prophylaxis. He said that the main idea for White in this position is Na4 and after the knight on c7 is moved, White wants to go c5! bxc5 and Nxc5 and now the knight cannot be taken because the rook on d7 is hanging. This is the reason why Rff7 is a powerful move, overprotecting the d7 rook and preparing the idea of Nc7-e8-f6-e4. The move Rff7 is the highest form of prophylaxis.

When the session was about to come to an end, Vishnu said something quite interesting: It is important not to learn too many new concepts. What is more important is to understand these limited concepts well and go deep into them. Because it is only when you have depth, is when you can avoid yourself from becoming predictable! Depth brings in creativity.

What Vishnu had just said reminded me of Bruce Lee's famous statement: "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." And then it dawned upon me - Gukesh! Whenever I commentate on Gukesh's games, he is always able to make unpredictable moves! Moves that his opponents don't expect him to make and moves that the engine does not even suggest. It's the depth that he has in understanding chess concepts, that is bringing out these moves from him.

And how does one develop this depth, I asked Vishnu? He thought about it and said, the student has to personalize this concept. They have to think about these concepts like prophylaxis, initiative, weaknesses etc. that exist in chess and need to understand them deeply. And that is why he gives them space and time to think about these concepts.

A paradise for chess lovers - the Hatsun Chess Academy

Below is my account of the Hatsun Training Academy. I feel what is being developed there is one of its kind. It involves a residential program for any ambitious chess player. GM Vishnu Prasanna and his team of trainers will try their best to make you into a better chess player. And the infrastructure provided by Hatsun (one of India's biggest dairy company) will ensure that you are able to stay comfortably. In some ways it is a Gurukul (home of a Guru), where you devote all your energy and focus on chess! As Vishnu says, "We provide a lot here - personalized recommendations, subsidized fees, but in return we ask for a student's complete commitment."

1. Distance from a big City

The Hatsun Chess Academy is based in Thiruthangal, near Sivakasi. It is roughly 70 kms away from the Madurai airport. The road leading up to Thiruthangal from the airport is wonderful and hence roughly take an hour to reach. What I absolutely loved is the fact that the surroundings were completely green.

Although reaching Hatsun Chess Academy takes time, once you are there, you are far away from the noise and chaos of a city. And this is very ideal when you want to learn something like chess deeply.

2. Completely immersed into chess

Here's the schedule:

9.15 a.m to 11 a.m. - First chess session

11 a.m. to 11.15 - a.m. - Juice break

11.15 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Second chess session

1 p.m. to 2 p.m. - Lunch Break

2. p.m. to 4.30 p.m. - Third chess session

4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m - Physical fitness

6 p.m. until next day 9.15 a.m. - you have time for yourself.

There are effectively three batches:

1. The prodigy batch (kids who are between the age of 6-8 years)

2. The middle batch (Elo 1400-1800)

3. The advanced batch (Elo 1800 - 2200)

When you send an email to Hatsun Chess Academy (email id given at the end of the article) and you are selected, then you are put in the 1 month provisional period. The main aim of this 1 month period is to gauge if the student is able to focus on chess for long hours and if he/she is interested in the game or not. If they are unable to keep their interest and focus, then a decision is made to let the student go. But if the youngster does well, then he becomes a full-fledged student of the academy. While clearly the aim is to cultivate young talents, there is no age bar to who can be a part of the academy.

3. Hatsun's patient approach

To create a residential program with stay and food facilities and a training center requires massive infrastructure. And none of this would have been possible without the involvement of Hatsun. Hatsun Agro Product Ltd (HAP), often referred as Hatsun, is a leading private sector dairy company in India with headquarters in Tamil Nadu, Chennai. It was founded by R. G. Chandramogan in 1970. "World wants India to become a cooperated ltd" was his motto. The company was also awarded "The Fastest Growing Asian Dairy Company". The dairy product maker has been bagging the Golden Trophy from the Indian Government for the largest dairy products exporter for the last many years.

Hatsun is currently investing heavily into 3 sports - Chess, Badminton and Tennikoit. One of the main reasons why all these 3 programs are successful, is because of the patient approach of the company. Chandramogan in his interview revealed, "It will take us 10-12 years to create a champion, and we are aware of this fact." Hatsun uses its CSR funds to build this infrastructure around chess and other sports. Sometimes they have to spend over and above the CSR fund, and they are ready to do that as well. For the chairman, there is also a personal touch to the project - he was born in Thiruthangal and hence, this region getting developed, is something quite close to his heart.

4. Dedication of trainers

It is quite obvious that a training program as ambitious as the one at Hatsun Chess Academy, it requires the trainers to work really hard around the clock. They have to take care not just of the training material that has to be prepared for every single day, they also need to be aware and focus about the individual growth requirements of each student. This is the reason why the academy now has 6 trainers.

5. Food

Delicious and healthy food is provided to all the students in the cafetaria and this includes morning breakfast, juice (at 11 a.m.), lunch, evening snack and dinner. What is being served at the cafeteria is food that is vetted by a nutritionist and it is the same food that badminton players at the Hatsun Academy also consume.

6. Tennikoit

Tennikoit, also called ring tennis or tenniquoits, is a sport played on a tennis-style court, with a circular rubber ring hurled over a net separating the two players, with each endeavoring to catch and return the hurled ring into the opponent's court. Hatsun is well known for its Tennikoit training as some of the best players of the world train there. At some point Vishnu went to the Hatsun administration to discuss about the possibility of introducing some form of physical fitness for the chess students. It was decided that the students, after finishing their chess training at 4.30 p.m. would walk to the Tennikoit training center and indulge in physical fitness!

When Tennikoit practice was made compulsory after chess practice for the students, they were not very thrilled. But over the months, the sport has started to grow on them and when I was there I could literally feel how could they had become at it. Who knows, maybe one of the kids might also become a super-strong Tennikoit player! :)

7. Peer to Peer Learning

One of the main principles of the Hatsun Chess Academy is Peer to Peer learning. GM Vishnu Prasanna deeply believes in it. When you have a group of young kids all motivated to achieve the same goal of becoming best players in the world, then different qualities and learnings are bound to rub off onto each other!

8. Fees

Thanks to the Hatsun Chess Academy being a part of Hatsun company's CSR project, the fees are subsidized.

- 24 day program (8 days of GM training) - Rs.8000 per month

- 16 day program (4 days of GM training) - Rs.4000 per month

Additionally, if you are a National, Asian or World medalist then you get scholarship which could range from 50% to 100% off.

If you are 12 years and above, you can make use of the hostel facilities. The cost for stay and food for the entire month is Rs.10,000. If you are below the age of 12, you will have to make your own arrangements for stay.

Students at the Hatsun Chess Academy

The below are the permanent students at the Hatsun Chess Academy (not counting provisional ones) along with their FIDE ratings as on 1st of July 2024:

What about your school?

If any player decides to be a part of the Hatsun programme, it is clear that they will have to miss being physically present at the school. We decided to speak to GM Vishnu Prasanna on this subject and what were his thoughts about it. This is what he had to say:

"At Hatsun we not only aim to teach chess but also aim to build the character of the student and player. This is the main reason why meditation and fitness or exercise are also involved in the programme. We aim to promote cooperation, social skills and expose them to scenarios where they can handle challenges even outside the chess board. Our aim is to develop strong, confident, independent individuals who will play a good role in society as well as the chess world. Through their work here, the students have been able to cope with their studies independently by studying before their exams in a shorter time frame. They take a break from the programme to attend their exams and have so far managed to cope well with both. This is the reason schools have also permitted these students to be a part of our programme and now we see that more schools are  also interested in providing permissions to the students."

How to apply for the Hatsun Chess Academy?

If you are serious about chess and feel committed towards the journey of chess improvement you can write to them at chess@hapsports.in with your achievements. They will respond back to you.

Special Thanks

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