Chennai’s secret: How the Indian city mints world-beating chess champions

Chennai, India — Giant banners of a smiling teen beamed down connected hundreds of students gathered astatine the schoolhouse field of Velammal Nexus to person the young champion.

It was August 10, 2024, and the schoolhouse was acceptable to enactment connected a amusement dissimilar immoderate it had witnessed before: 220 drones projected the teenage hero’s look into the entity arsenic students held placards wishing him luck.

In a state that reserves this benignant of adulation for movie actors and cricketers, a caller and improbable prima had been calved – successful chess. Clad successful his checked schoolhouse uniform, 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju yet walked up to the signifier to person a acquisition from his schoolhouse – a luxurious E-Class Mercedes Benz that helium did not person a licence to thrust yet.

The lawsuit was held to honour the young grandmaster’s galore accomplishments, including becoming the youngest ever to triumph the Candidates Tournament – an lawsuit that saw 16 top-rated chess players conflict it retired to find who would instrumentality connected the reigning satellite champions.

Gukesh, a poker-faced, lanky teen, belongs to the latest harvest of chess wizards that the confederate Indian authorities of Tamil Nadu has churned retired successful the past decade. The authorities is location to 31 grandmasters retired of 85 successful each of India and adjacent proudly boasts of a temple for the athletics successful the Tiruvarur district.

Now, the biggest prize of each awaits: Starting connected Monday, Gukesh volition look disconnected against China’s Ding Liren astatine the World Chess Championship successful Singapore. Over 14 gruelling games that volition agelong until mid-December, Gukesh volition effort to amended the overmuch older Ding, 32, who is the defending champion.

Yet, the glory that has embraced Indian chess successful caller years is rooted successful humble beginnings, defined by sacrifice and dedication – from the stars themselves, their families and coaches – astatine schools and academies wherever dreams are forged, and past shaped for success.

In the Mogappair neighbourhood of Chennai, posters of chess champions Gukesh and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa adorn the walls of buildings [Maveeran Somasundaram/Al Jazeera]

A schoolhouse for champions

Gukesh is acold from the lone – oregon archetypal – prima chess champion to postgraduate from a Velammal Nexus school. The school’s roster includes different young trailblazers similar Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu Vaishali and Arjun Kalyan. While the Ramesbabu siblings vie with each different to interruption nationalist and planetary records, Arjun is 1 of the coaches of the Indian nationalist team, which won double golden astatine the Chess Olympiad successful September successful Slovenia.

They person each been trained by 1 man: 56-year-old Velavan Subbiah, the manager of the school’s chess squad for much than a decade.

Located successful the bustling neighbourhood of Mogappair successful Chennai, 150 metres (490 ft) from the main Velammal schoolhouse campus, the acquisition group’s exclusive chess academy is intolerable to miss, with ample posters of its celebrated alumni propped up down a solid facade astatine the entrance.

We locomotion into a country designed similar a ample league chamber, implicit with 50 unusual chairs and tables and a chess country playing retired connected a elephantine poster successful the backdrop.

As helium waits for the archetypal batch of students for the time to unit in, Velavan takes a travel down representation lane. “I had initially been associated with the schoolhouse arsenic the genitor of their erstwhile pupil – chess grandmaster Varshini. I stepped successful to manager the squad erstwhile the aged manager resigned,” helium says.

There has been nary turning backmost for the businessman-turned-coach. Velavan erstwhile ran a institution that dealt with the proviso of operation materials. Now, helium is gathering a pipeline of chess geniuses.

Ten years ago, helium says, determination were astir 300 students enrolled successful his chess coaching classes. Now, that fig has soared to 2,000, with students coming from each of the Velammal group’s 15 schoolhouse branches crossed Chennai.

The schoolhouse dedicates 3 classes each week for extra-curricular activities – with chess being the favourite of the schoolhouse and galore students and parents.

The schoolhouse waives fees for young chess champions and supports emerging stars with question grants for planetary athletics events. It arranges peculiar classes and exams for them to accommodate their question schedule.

Children who are yet to crook 4 bid for chess tournaments astatine the school’s chess academy. Once the manager has identified a peculiarly talented child, they talk to the parents to streamline their training, often coordinating with outer coaches to springiness the pupil one-on-one assistance.

Velammal Nexus’s chess academy (which was launched past year) besides hosts workshops and camps to boost regular training.

About 30 minutes into our conversation, a radical of students, impeccably dressed successful their schoolhouse uniforms of checked shirts and grey trousers, participate the room, clasping notes and h2o bottles. They prime up their chess boards and settee down to conflict it retired with their peers successful the room.

Within minutes, determination is hostility arsenic the children effort to fig retired some their adjacent determination – and that of their opponent. A six-year-old lad sits with some hands connected his caput portion his neighbour taps the array nervously, coaches towering implicit the young players, deconstructing their moves and mistakes.

After an hour-long session, it takes 1 incorrect determination for the six-year-old to suffer his game. But the disappointment connected his look is rapidly replaced with a smile. It is conscionable 1 of an endless fig of signifier games helium could play astatine the academy.

Coach Velavan Subbaiah guides his students arsenic they look disconnected against each different successful signifier games astatine his academy successful Chennai, India [Maveeran Somasundaram/Al Jazeera]

A caller procreation takes over

For decades, Indian chess was synonymous with Vishwanathan Anand, the five-time satellite champion who locked horns with generations of different icons – from Russian Garry Kasparov successful the 1990s to Norwegian Magnus Carlsen successful caller years.

Now, the baton has been passed on: In October this year, Praggnanandha bushed Anand successful the quarterfinals of the WR Chess Masters tournament. Anand, meanwhile, trains and mentors rising chess talents including Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani, Gukesh and Vaishali.

This caller generation, manager Velavan says, has helped dispersed the sport’s popularity adjacent to distant villages. “Our boys and girls get recognised and mobbed successful each country of the state,” says Velavan.

Behind Tamil Nadu’s – and Chennai’s successful peculiar – emergence arsenic a mill churning retired chess champions is simply a operation of factors, coaches say.

There is enactment from the authorities government, specified arsenic ensuring contiguous disbursal of currency prizes for winners and conducting planetary chess events successful the state, says Velavan.

Geopolitical events person helped, too. The 2022 Chess Olympiad, for instance, was primitively expected to beryllium held successful Russia, but was moved to Chennai pursuing Russia’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine.

The olympiad “proved to beryllium a assemblage puller and it piqued involvement successful chess amongst the wide public,” Velavan says. The metropolis went each retired successful its celebrations – installing life-size mascots resembling chess pieces and repainting the city’s iconic Napier’s span to marque it look similar a chess board. The high-profile event, which saw participants from much than 185 countries, was inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Though the state’s 2 main governmental parties seldom spot oculus to eye, determination is simply a bipartisan statement implicit supporting chess. The erstwhile authorities of the now-in-opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK) enactment had successful 2013 initiated a programme to supply chess coaching to students aged 7 to 17 – successful effect making chess a portion of the acquisition strategy successful the state.

There is besides the relation of parents. Chennai is simply a socially blimpish city, wherever world performances are often encouraged implicit extracurricular activities. Against that backdrop, galore parents told Al Jazeera that they felt comfy with their children taking up chess, seen arsenic a “brainy” hobby. Some said that they believed chess would assistance their children absorption amended connected their studies.

Velavan besides points to the much nonstop sacrifices parents often make, citing the illustration of however Gukesh’s begetter enactment his vocation arsenic an ear, chemoreceptor and pharynx surgeon connected the backmost burner to question and enactment his lad astatine competitions.

And erstwhile sibling grandmasters Vaishali, 23, and Praggnanandhaa, 19, circuit the satellite for competitions, they are ever accompanied by their doting parent Nagalakshmi.

Gukesh (right) successful his schoolhouse azygous astatine the felicitation ceremonial astatine Velammal Nexus [Photo courtesy Velammal Nexus]

Sacrifices to success

While Vaishali and Praggnanandhaa signifier chess during their tours, Nagalakshmi carries her trusted utensils and nutrient ingredients, dishing retired steadfast home-cooked meals. Often, she tin beryllium seen connected the margins of the ample halls wherever chess games are held, waiting anxiously for the results of her children’s matches.

Meanwhile, backmost location successful Chennai, the begetter of the siblings, Rameshbabu, dwells connected the ecosystem of enactment that makes this possible. A retired slope manager, Rameshbabu and his woman Nagalakshmi bash not travel from a chess background.

“We had initially enactment Vaishali successful chess classes to trim surface clip but she showed astonishing progress,” helium recalls. Vaishali went connected to triumph the Girls’ World Youth Chess Championship for Under-12s successful 2012 and Under-14s successful 2015. Her brother, Praggnanandhaa, who had initially gone to travel his sister during her matches, was soon making strides of his own. At the property of 10, helium made past by becoming the youngest planetary maestro successful history.

It was not casual to enactment their journey, and would person been intolerable to bash without sponsors and adjuvant coaches, the begetter says. “At 1 point, I adjacent considered stopping Pragg from playing the athletics owed to fiscal constraints but we had changeless enactment that egged america on.”

A polio survivor, helium is besides grateful for household members who assistance him successful the lack of his woman and children. “With chess tournaments happening each month, my woman and children extremity up travelling for much than fractional the month,” helium says.

Often, the household does not get to observe birthdays oregon festivals similar Diwali together. And adjacent erstwhile his kids are backmost home, they bid astatine slightest six hours each day.

“It is this consistency that has taken them places,” says seasoned manager RB Ramesh, who has trained the brother-sister duo.

It was the time of Vijayadashami, a festival considered auspicious for caller beginnings, erstwhile we visited GM Ramesh’s chess academy (Chess Gurukul) successful Chennai’s T Nagar. This is wherever the Rameshbabu siblings and respective different grandmasters person trained implicit the years.

Registrations for the caller classes are on, and children of each ages, accompanied by their parents, are rushing to participate an different inconspicuous building.

Meanwhile, older students beryllium successful 3 rooms, astir meditatively focused connected the boards earlier them, seemingly unaffected by the commotion outside.

Ramkumar Subramaniam, who heads operations astatine the club, says that “the occurrence of Vishwanathan Anand” paved the mode for this caller generation. But successful summation to different factors, the COVID-19 lockdown done astir of 2020, and the crook to online classes during the pandemic, besides helped dispersed the sport, helium says, astatine a clip erstwhile children could not entree playgrounds.

“We present person chess classes successful each different street”, helium says, laughing. Ramkumar has near a palmy IT vocation to assistance his young lad find a footing successful the satellite of chess, lone to beryllium absorbed by it himself.

Initially, helium would instrumentality a fewer days disconnected to question with his lad for assorted tournaments but helium recovered that the frequence of question accrued arsenic his lad began to play chess much professionally. “There are tournaments each period and parents similar america would acceptable up societal media groups to sermon the assorted events that we should see and program logistics similar travel, enactment and nutrient options.”

With astir children starting young, the changeless beingness of a genitor oregon a manager becomes indispensable for their progressive participation.

“I promote my students to commencement and win aboriginal truthful that they tin get outer (financial) backing to assistance their career,” says Ramesh, the coach.

Without that fiscal help, the sacrifices families request to marque to enactment the nonrecreational chess careers of their young children tin spiral rapidly – astatine times forcing them to take betwixt the committee crippled and household goods.

Children, immoderate younger than 4 years old, signifier chess astatine manager RB Ramesh’s academy successful Chennai, India [Maveeran Somasundaram/Al Jazeera]

Starting early

This October, nine-year-old Shravaanica Anburoja Saravanan made past by becoming the youngest Indian subordinate to surpass the 2000 Elo standing – a chess benchmark of prime that lone 2 percent of progressive chess players person achieved.

She is the youngest pistillate campaigner maestro (WCM) successful Asia and second-youngest WCM successful the world. The WCM is simply a rubric awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) exclusively to women chess players who are rated supra 2000 successful the classical FIDE rating.

It each started erstwhile Shravaanica, past conscionable five, picked up the crippled from her older sister, Ratshikaa, during the COVID lockdown. Her mother, Anburoja – who spoke to Al Jazeera on with Shravaanica connected the telephone successful betwixt games astatine a tourney successful Portugal – utilized to tally a tuition centre for neighbourhood kids successful the tiny municipality of Ariyalur successful Tamil Nadu.

The parent realised that the young girl, inactive to commencement ceremonial schooling, could jot down physics notes and recite lengthy Tamil poesy with ease. Little Sharvaanica, Anburoja saw, had bonzer representation and analytical skills – qualities that would beryllium adjuvant successful chess.

Her father, Sarvanan – a weaver – signed her up for online chess classes. Over the years, the household has had to portion with their refrigerator, a woody cot, chairs and adjacent Shravaanica’s favourite metallic anklets to enactment her grooming and information successful events.

After winning respective competitions, the young miss qualified for the under-seven chess Asian chess title (2021) but had to backmost retired owed to a deficiency of funding. Still, she kept practising, and successful 2022, finished 2nd successful a state-level tournament, and past won a nationalist rubric aboriginal that year.

By then, she had besides secured a spot astatine the Hatsun Chess Academy successful Sivakasi nether Vishnu Prasanna, a grandmaster who besides coaches Gukesh. The household relocated to Sivakasi to assistance the young miss train. Skipping regular school, she would bid from 9am until 6pm astatine the chess academy.

She went connected to triumph each 23 games crossed each 3 formats – classic, accelerated and blitz – astatine the Asian School Championship held successful Sri Lanka successful 2022. She past clinched golden astatine the Commonwealth Games (under-10 girls category) aboriginal this year.

As Sharvaanica kept surpassing chess summits astir the world, the household had to find assorted means to enactment her ambition. “As a parent, we had to bash this for her truthful we sold everything that we could – from pawning jewellery to selling furnishings and our refrigerator,” Anburoja shares. My elder child, too, pitched successful by selling disconnected her cycle, and she adjacent tutored younger kids online to enactment Sharvaanica’s training.”

With heavy subsidised fees, Prasanna believes that initiatives similar the Hatsun Chess Academy springiness a boost to deserving endowment similar Shravaanica and assistance the athletics scope deeper crossed agrarian Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, the authorities authorities present sponsors Sharvaanica’s question for large events, and Velammal Nexus waives her schoolhouse acquisition fees.

All of that has made the family’s battles disconnected the committee a small much manageable.

Yet, for a household that had to portion their location of everything but the basics to money their child’s chess journey, the results person lone begun to show. Anburoja, who travels with her daughter, inactive worries astir not replacing the shoes the miss has outgrown, oregon affording much nutritious meals for the small champion. She dreams of buying a caller brace of metallic anklets for Shravaanica immoderate day.

India’s travel arsenic a chess elephantine is lone present taking off. But erstwhile Gukesh plays astatine the satellite championships adjacent week, helium volition beryllium carrying the hopes of hundreds of prodigies, their parents and coaches for whom chess is overmuch much than a game. Every determination volition beryllium cheered and dissected successful homes and academies crossed Chennai arsenic a procreation of adjacent younger champions than the 18-year-old prepares to checkmate planetary rivals.