India as an emerging chess superpower

This shifting of goalposts is an important moment for India’s chess story

There was perhaps no better way to show that India has arrived as a chess nation than by clinching its first-ever gold medal at the 45th edition of the Chess Olympiad. With a record-breaking 193 teams in the Open section, this is the tournament where strength is measured by the depth of talent that a country possesses, and India’s spell-binding performance shows that the surge in the number of grand masters (GMs) isn’t just a number. Until 2010, India had a total of 23 GMs. People knew about chess thanks to India’s first GM, Viswanathan Anand, and even though there were others, the sport and its coverage were largely restricted to him. Now, the number of GMs has surged past 80, there are five players with a “Super GM” Elo rating of 2,700 or higher, five Indian players are ranked in the top 25 of the world, and one of them, D Gukesh, is going to battle for the title of world champion in November.

D Gukesh of India competes in the Chess Olympiad. (AP) (HT_PRINT)

The challenge now is not becoming a GM. Rather, it is to climb to the very top. This shifting of goalposts is an important moment for India’s chess story. Its young GMs have made everyone sit up and notice for a few years now but few expected this rise to happen so quickly. As things stand, Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi (who has been brilliant at the Olympiad and is the current World no. 4), and R Praggnanandhaa represent just the tip of the iceberg — many more young talents are waiting in the wings, and the success at the Olympiad will not only motivate them to challenge the best but also continue to push India to greater heights. This is just the beginning.