Trip to Thrissur

Last month, I got extremely busy reporting the 2015 National Premier Championship for ChessBase India from Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. Nevertheless, on my way to the host city, I made a pit stop at Thrissur in Kerala, better known as God's own country, although the Keralites themselves scoff at any such reference, to meet a certain kid who is extremely witty outside the chess board and a phenom over it. But more about him later.

Clicking photographs in a moving train with a simple camera, when you are as horrible a photographer (guffaws) as I am, can be a tad difficult. However, here is a small pictorial story for you to enjoy.

I caught a (fairly) early morning passenger train from the Mangalore Central station

The water is so clear that from certain angles, you can actually see the stuff beneath!

Light doing its job

The railway stations in Kerala are not as glitzy as the ones in other states

However, as in any other state, crossing tracks remains a national hobby

The train met a colleague mid-journey

Kerala's palm trees are pasted throughout the landscape!

One remarkable feature of the railway line plummeting south in Kerala is this...

Yes, the line runs over an uncountable number of rivers, parallel to the Arabian Sea!

 

And it is endless! You can actually see the sea and the rivers meeting...

And some places like Mahe, which is actually a part of Pondicherry, offers a dock to witness the trains pass, river flow, right into the sea ahead

I visited Mahe for the first time in November 2013, a day after Anand lost his third game at the Chennai World Championship with Nf1??. Until that day, I never knew that a part of Pondicherry, adjoining the Bay of Bengal, which is actually situated near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, was on the other side, in Kerala adjoining the Arabian Sea. More about this and the story behind how I happened to land here in 2013 later, in some future article.

Anyway, the pristinely land managed to capture my imagination 

Neha with her father Dr. Sarin Abdulsalam

I reached Thirssur and it was time to visit Nihal Sarin and his family. Nihal's sister Neha is a bubbly six-year-old child who is as sharp as her elder brother is...

White (some GM) is threatening to promote next move and with barely seconds left to calculate, Nihal (Black) saved the game with the simple...

Nihal would be busy with his routine of playing blitz online on multiple chess playing servers, where he would sit and hunt titled players of varied stature. I observed him go about his day, peppering him with questions, asking why he chose specific moves in his games, and so on. The result of my work is detailed in this ChessBase article.

Soon, in the international ChessBase website, you will see a videotaped experiment where Nihal is supposed to solve a study. It is the traditional test ChessBase has been providing to talented youngsters and in the soon to be published article, you come to know the story (involves a famous World Champion) and also see how these talented players fared in the experiment, including Nihal.

I was curious to find out what is the key to his thirst for chess. What is the golden rule...

I saw that the golden rule is, there is no golden rule 

Mangalore 01: Tipu Sultan’s Battery and Tannirbhavi Beach

In my twenty-two years of existence, I have lived in and visited numerous cities, spanning across the cultures of India. However, never have I felt at home, as I feel in my hometown of Mangalore. The delectable seafood with their enchanting aroma, the narrow winding streets fringed with coconut palms, the terracotta-tiled house rooftops, the pristine beaches and the calm religious places – all make it the city where I want to live, forever.

This is the scene right outside my ‘home cum office’ window.

In Karnataka, especially in the areas of Coorg and Mangalore, there is a resentment in the public with regards to the Karnataka government’s idea to hold a festival to commemorate Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary (November 20, 1750). The Sultan is widely known as one of the most powerful kings and battle commanders of India, with the British considering him to be their last big challenge during their invasion of India.

The resentment among the people, however, is about Tipu’s intolerance towards non-Muslims. Nothing is clear about the functioning and the thinking process of Tipu, who in my opinion was a ruler who went through a change of ideologies. Tipu was known to ransack temples and churches and convert non-Muslims. On the other hand, there is a proven account of Tipu helping rebuild the Sringeri Mutt after the Marathas (who themselves were proud Hindus) raided and destroyed it. I don’t have any opinion about this – maybe the Sringeri case was just a political move to appease the followers of Hindu religion? However, even the capital city of Tipu’s kingdom was and still is a place of religious importance for the followers of the Hindu religion. Of what I know, he used to consult astrologers and even did rituals at the Sree Ranganatha Swami temple in Mysore. Maybe, he didn’t attack temples and churches in the areas which were already controlled by him, and destroyed those in the kingdoms he was invading to show that he was their new ruler? Maybe, he saw that the only way to defeat the British is to stop being communal, and unite against the common enemy?

Okay, Tipu Sultan was a complicated man. All that said and done, there is no doubt that he was an astute battle commander with artillery about a century ahead of its time. The British, though, had weapons that are more intellectual: politics and economics.

I made a trip to Sultan Battery in Mangalore, to have a look at the famous battery situated at the banks of the Gurupura River, which Tipu used effectively while battling the invaders, especially the British. The Sultan’s Battery used to be a unit of guns, mortars, rockets and missiles that would work as a single machinery while battling battle ships and enemies invading from the sea.

Sultan Battery: The structure built in 1784 A.D., reportedly from the stones of the 23 churches that Tipu destroyed in his 15-year imprisonment of Mangalorean Catholics.

The cannons and rockets have vanished.

So, if a cannon is placed in one of the gaps, this is how a target would look like…

And this is all that would be visible to the target.

The battery is situated a short distance ahead of the point where the Gurupura river meets the Arabian Sea. This is also the headland of the Mangalore Port. (NMPT: New Mangalore Port Trust)

Palm trees at the other side of the river, opposite the Battery.

I decided to take a ferry across the river, which cost me a mere Rs. 5 for a trip.

At the ferry point, I observed this trawler stationed in all its glory.

Ah! This is how they move!

The closest I have ever been to look like Jack at the tip of the Titanic.

While in the ferry, I spotted this guy (gal?) atop a trawler.

More palm trees in the banks of the river!

After the ferry ride, I walked some 3 minutes across this hamlet to reach…

…Tannirbhavi Beach!

I love it when they rise…

… and rise higher…

… and then crash!

In case you are interested to watch it in action, here is a 9-second video:

Am I the only one who loves to just sit and watch this?

This gives you an idea about how clean the water is… 

The bigger ones are very tasty and a must have treat in Mangalore.

A practice I have stuck to at each of my beach visits. I have done this at Juhu (Mumbai), Miramar (Panjim), Calicut, Kanyakumari, Marina (Madras) and now at Tannirbhavi (Mangalore).

If you are tired of visiting Goa, why not try Mangalore?

The Sultan Battery is situated approximately 4 KMs away from the main city. The place is open all the time, of course. There are numerous city buses (Bus No. 16) that ply to and fro between State Bank (main city) and Sultan Battery/Tannirbhavi Beach. The last ferry across the river is between 7:00 PM and 7:20 PM. A bus ride from the main city to the Battery/Beach costs less than Rs. 10 (one-way) and the ferry ticket costs Rs. 5 (one-way). There are numerous stalls serving eatables in the hamlet across the river, around the Beach.

You are free to use the images, with due credits to the author.

India wins 11 medals at WYCC 2015. What next?

The 2015 World Youth Chess Championship at Porto Carras, Greece, was painted orange, white and green by the young Indian prodigies. In two separate sections for Open and Girls, there were thirty-six medals up for grabs, and the Indian kids bullied their way to the podium – 5 Golds, 3 Silvers and 3 Bronze.

This just shows the world what Indians already understood – the youth in Indian chess is blessed with phenomenal powers. What we apparently don’t understand, however, is that with great power comes great responsibility. What is this responsibility?

It is the responsibility of nurturing our talented players, and not just the winners, so they would grow into top grandmasters. Do you think we are doing enough for these little champions? Come to think of it: over the years, India has been producing an array of champions in youth events at National, Asian and World stages in both Girls and Open sections. We have more registered chessplayers than any country on this planet. Yet, as of now, in 2015, how many players do we have rated above 2700? How many above 2650? How many above 2600? How many above…

Let’s look at an example: IM N. Srinath (2464) won the World U-12 Championship, 2005, at Belfort ahead of players like Wesley So, Hou Yifan, Parimarjan Negi, Sanan Sjugirov, Ray Robson. As on today, all of them have crossed the 2600 mark years ago and one of them is even in the World Top-10. Mere coincidence, you say? In Negi's case, he was quick to realize the lack of opportunities in India and managed to play regularly against strong players rated above 2550 in the European circuit on a regular basis. Regular games with players rated much higher than him coupled with coaching from players of 2600+ level resulted in him becoming as strong as he is. 

Why do you think is there such a low conversion rate of medal winners into top-flight grandmasters? I agree that just as it takes time for a seed to grow into a plant, a plant will take the time to grow into a tree. Nevertheless, that does not explain the fact that many of our age-category champions grow until a certain point, and then find it extremely difficult to move forward. They are stuck and then wriggle like a fish taken out of the water.

Silver in Open U-12: Nihal Sarin

If our youngsters do not get to play with 2500-2700 players regularly, how will they improve? Of course, the 2300-2400 players cannot be expected to improve by playing players rated less than them!

These days, most youngsters have to invest on a trip to Europe to play in quality tournaments where they get to face 2500-2700 players. Do you think everyone is financially capable of doing it? Of course, past a certain point, the funds just dry up and one is forced to give up playing professionally, and turn to something else. Else, they find supplementary sources of income to fund their chess.

India witnessed a record 200+ tournaments in the year 2014. Almost equal, if not more, have been organized this year as well. Yet, for various reasons, these Open tournaments hardly ever have a grandmaster rated above 2500. The reasons have their logic though. Most of these grandmasters have accumulated their rating after strenuous hard work and mammoth investments in playing tournaments in Europe with strong players (read players above 2600) playing. Why would they risk all their work in playing tournaments regularly in India, where in every nook and corner of the circuit, one comes across hungry, determined kids who will settle for nothing less than your blood and rating points? Not sure? Check out GM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhary’s rating chart.

Since 2014, he has erased more than 100 points, and most of it, if not all, was incurred in India.

Therefore, what we need now are regular closed/open tournaments with players rated 2500-2600 and above participating. It would be difficult to imagine each and every of our precious talents getting a sponsorship. Let us ease their burden by bringing regular quality tournaments to India at least. This will ensure that our players are regularly playing quality opposition, which in turn will enable them to improve.

Another possible problem might be the lack of coaches rated in 2600-2700 range. A 2300-2400 player would need a coach who has already been through the phases he/she is passing through, and excelled. Financially speaking, not everybody can bear the expenditure involved in hiring a personal trainer. Clearly, India lacks chess coaches in this range who will help our youngsters rise to the next level.

Personally, I believe it is our responsibility to help our youngsters become young stars. Forgive me for repeating, but Uncle Ben was right -- with great power comes great responsibility.