KOCHI: Nihal Sarin didn’t go into the Tata Steel International Rapid Chess tournament looking for attention. He just wanted to play chess. However, when you play against someone like Viswanathan Anand, headlines are bound to follow.“I enjoyed the games, but not the attention!” Nihal said. While it was not the classical format, it was a commendable effort to hold a five-time world chess champion to a draw.
The 14-year-old Grandmaster finished in ninth place with six draws and three defeats. “I am happy that I could play decently against these big guys,” the young Grandmaster said.The teenager who is the current World No 1 in the under-14 category managed to draw against some top chess players of the world. The most notable names are Russian Grandmaster and former Word Cup runner-up Sergey Karjakin and former World rapid chess champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
“I expected him to do well. I had good chances to win at least a couple of games. I must learn to be precise in such situations,” he said. Considering his age, it is a commendable job for Nihal to draw against players of such caliber and experience. However, since this was a shorter format of the game, Nihal’s feat should be treated with caution.
Nihal is coached by another Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan and the youngster says that his coach doesn’t interfere too much with his game and wants him to make decisions on his own. “He was with me throughout and we went through this tournament together. It was fun for sure. He didn’t say anything in particular. Most of our work centre around chess analysis.” Srinath recently said in an interview that Nihal doesn’t have a notable strength or weakness in his game and that he is still raw. Nihal agrees with his coach and says that he doesn’t want to specialise in anything.
“Specialising in any particular area is not something I have given much thought to. I think I should have a wide range of chess skills and I also think I should have a deep understanding of all those skills. So I would rather do it all.”martinj@newindianexpress.com
Know Sarin
Full Name: Nihal Sarin
DOB: July 13, 2004
Ratings: Standard 2576
Rapid: 2127
Blitz: 2506
Ranked
World No 363
Is Under-14
World No 1
Is No 14 among Indians
FIDE titles
Grandmaster (GM) 2018
International Master (IM) 2017
FIDE Master (FM) 2015
Candidate Master (CM) 2014