Delhi Chess Association (DCA) felicitates its youngest IM
When compared to the major states of India, Delhi is a small territory. Yet, it is able to churn out one chess talent after another at an alarming rate. The latest one being 14-year-old Prithu Gupta who made his IM title and maiden GM norm at the Gibraltar Masters 2018. There is definitely something right that the state association is doing. We realized that the most important thing is that the officials care for the players. On 19th of March Prithu was felicitated by AICF and DCA secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan and A.K. Verma respectively. "The boy has a bright future ahead of him", says Ankit Dalal who was present at the ceremony.
On 19th March 2018 Delhi boy Prithu Gupta was felicitated by Delhi Chess Association (DCA). At the recently held Gibraltar Masters, Prithu performed at a rating of 2570, completing his 3rd IM norm and crossing 2400 rating. He also won his first GM norm. All India Chess Federation Secretary Mr Bharat Singh Chouhan was present along Mr Ajeet Verma, Secretary, Delhi State Chess Association to felicitate the upcoming talent.
Prithu thanked the Delhi Chess Association with the following words:
"My heartfelt thanks and gratitude towards Bharat Singh Chauhan sir, Ajeet Verma sir and the entire Delhi chess fraternity for acknowledging my hard work and felicitating me in such a beautiful way. A special thanks to all the officials of Delhi chess association who work tirelessly to organize tournaments where players like me can grow. I am really humbled by the kind words and gestures of Bharat sir and the entire DCA and will try my best to make them proud in the future too. A big thanks to all my teachers and my parents as without their support and efforts , this day would not have come."
Prithu started learning chess at the age of nine where he was introduced to the game by his maternal uncle Mr. Vishal Agrawal. Nine is a relatively late age to start plaing chess, but Prithu started developing interest and his mother decided to teach him systematically by a working with a professional trainer Manav Saxena. He participated in a State selection tournament to begin with where he scored mere 3 points out of 9 and that's where the fire to get better began.
Seeing the sheer number of players at the Parsvanath Delhi Open motivated Prithu to start playing more tournaments. He got his FIDE rating in U-11 Nationals which was just 1187 in 2013. FM Prasenjit Datta worked hard with Prithu and within a year he gained mammoth 559 rating points. 2015 was when Prithu finished fourth at the national school games and won many a state tournaments. IM Somak Palit and GM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury began training the young boy and his road to the top was faster.
Getting your first IM norm certificate is always a pleasant feeling
Prithu's mom Poonam Gupta said during the Press Conference that it's just not that he is an International Master but he has scored a CGPA 10 through out his academic career until. Even though he went to the Gibraltar Open and had just 20 days to study, he managed to score a CGPA of 10 once again!
When I met Prithu in Delhi he said, "Chess is more then an addiction. It's my life. I would just like to 24x7 chess." The boy is not just extremely talented but also very mature and clear in his thinking. During the press conference, a reporter asked him, "What is your next aim or what is your goal?" And he promptly replied, "I don't have any long term goals. I am just focused on becoming a better player every day." Another question hurled at him, "Like Parimarjan Negi left the game for academics, will you do the same?" Prithu smartly replied, "I am too young to say anything about that. Current focus is to just keep improving as a player."
Helping the visually challenged chess community:
Recently we published an article where we called upon the chess community to help the visually challenged chess players in whichever way they could. Prithu immediately came forward and worked for a couple of hours over the phone with Vadodara's Ashvin Makwana. Ahwin wrote to us saying that he learned a lot from Prithu and enjoyed the two hours training session. He is just 14, but he is already thinking of ways in which he can contribute to back to the chess community. The boy is currently working hard with IM Roktim Bandhopadhyay on taking his next step towards becoming a GM, but whenever he finds time he makes it a point to help people in the sport he loves so much.
Prithu has also analysed many games on ChessBase India and on a parting note we leave you with one of his nice games:
Previous articles on Prithu on ChessBase India:
From 1187 to 2219 in just three years
13-year-old Prithu Gupta makes his maiden IM norm
Prithu Gupta- IM title and one GM Norm at the age of 13!
About the author:
Ankit Dalal is an ardent chess lover. After dabbling as a player in his younger days, he has made it his mission to bring a positive change in the chess community. "The game of chess should provide more employment and earning opportunities to the players and people who work tirelessly towards promoting the game," says Ankit. He is the Head of ChessBase India Power and on the very few days that he doesn't work on chess, likes to bowl some leg spin in Cricket!