The journey of a 10-year-old boy who beat a 2650+ GM!

This is about my son, Pranav. V - The boy whose family did not have any background in chess and how he went on to become the National champion.

Pranav was introduced to the royal game by accident. Yes, he got attracted to it the very first time he saw it. We had gone to distribute wedding cards to a relative in Chennai and that is where my nephew, who was about 8 years old, was playing chess with pieces that represented animals of the forest!

I played a few games with my nephew and lost all of them. This would have triggered the spark within Pranav, who was around five and a half years old back then, to see that his father getting beaten by another youngster. When we returned home, Pranav started pestering me, like any other kid would have, for the chess set with animals. We went all around Chennai searching for it, but without any success! We had to settle for the regular chess set and I started teaching him piece movements and basic rules of the game. In one week's time I was unable to keep pace with the speed at which Pranav was improving. I was losing even though I tried playing my best! The complex knight moves and other little combinations somehow came to him very naturally.

That's when I decided to send him to a chess academy. We enrolled with the VBS Chess Academy, Saligramam in Chennai. He spent one and a half hour on the weekend for a year from 2012 to 2013. And this is where he won his first chess cup!

Having no real knowledge at how Pranav could improve at chess, I would often listen to the suggestions of other parents and try them out. For eg. many of the parents told us that Pranav must play as many tournaments as possible when he is young. That was when he played his first under-7 district tournament in 2013. After some decent shows at these events we started playing at rapid and open tournaments in and around Chennai.

When Pranav started to show improvement we were suggested to change the academy for his faster improvement. We joined T.Nagar Chess Academy and spent about 2 years under the guidance of Mr. A.L.Kasi and Team. Mr.Kasi identified the star qualities in him and guided him until June 2015. At TCA he got a good start and environment that gave him exposure to play lot of good players. Playing their weekend Rapid and Blitz tournaments was something that Pranav loved!

WIM Raghavi.N and Priya.P of Creative Minds Chess Club took over the mantle of guiding Pranav from 2015. They not only worked on openings, endgames and middlegames but also on how to analyze his game and learn from his mistakes. Raghavi, mentored him throughout the major tournaments, even at times when she was busy with her exams or studies for MD, ENT. She focussed a lot on learning from the Classical games, the games of the masters from the past.

With all of this training and right guidance, Pranav was able to achieve fourth place in the Asian Youth Championship held at Mongolia in 2016. Says Raghavi, "Pranav has qualities in him that surely point towards a world class player. He doesn't let losses affect him and he always fights back. He has a brilliant tactical vision. The only thing that he always needs is someone to be pushing him to work hard. Once he starts working on chess on his own he will become an extremely strong player."

As Raghavi had to take up her higher studies in medicine, we changed to Vijayanand Chess Academy under the guidance of Mr. Vijay Anand. He contributed a lot for improving his game and focus more on the positional aspect of chess.

Pranav is now studying in the fifth grade in the Velammal Vidyalaya, Mel Ayyambakkam, Chennai. The school encourages him and supports us to help him achieve his aim of becoming a grandmaster in chess. I would like to thank the school and Mr. Velavan, who is the chess incharge, for motivating him to achieve his passion.

Perseverance is the key, and without any doubt the support from all ends is very much needed. Right now Pranav is seeded 4th in the World list in his category (under-12). We aim big but without financial support it’s hard to reach the destination. Pranav has not played any International Open circuit tournament in Europe due to financial constraints. He will definitely prove good if provided with sponsors to participate in big events out of India. We have stretched more than what we could and will strive hard to succeed in reaching Pranav’s passion and goal of becoming a Super GM. But a help or sponsor from somewhere would ease our journey.

You can follow Pranav's achievements and updates on his Facebook page.

Games of Pranav V. analyzed by IM Sagar Shah

This last round game helped Pranav win the bronze medal at the World Youth 2016 in Batumi, Georgia.

Salem Saleh, rated 2652, is a dangerous tactician. He has been UAE's top grandmaster for many years now. When he faced Pranav in the first round of the Dubai Open 2017, it was a typical case of a higher rated player taking things lightly. Salem sacrificed a pawn in the opening for which he got good compensation. However, he made some weak moves after which he already was facing a pawn down position with nothing to show for it. He got desperate at that point trying to sacrifice one pawn after another. We all know that a 2650+ GM on the ropes is the most dangerous opponent to have. He tries every trick in the book to save himself. 10-year-old Pranav remained unfazed. He calculated all the lines carefully and scored a fine win! A ten-year-old beating a 2652 grandmaster is not something you see everyday!

About the Author

Venkatesh is the father of Pranav and husband to Indumathi V. He works as the technical lead at Sonata Software limited. He decided to share his son's journey with an aim that other parents and upcoming chess players could benefit from it.