KOCHI: Mesmerised by the deft, quick moves of Indian chess grandmaster Gukesh D (nicknamed Goku by some fans), an eight-year-old boy decided to try his hand at the Game of Kings.
A year later, Arnav Anand seems to be following in his icon’s footsteps. Arnav, now nine and a Class IV student of Greets Public School at Kaloor, won a silver medal along with two other boys from Keralam – Neithal D Ansera and Ilaan Shafeeq – in the Under-IX boys category at the recently-concluded 20th Asian Schools Chess Championship held in Tula, Russia.
Vineetha Anand, Arnav’s mother, said although the boys competed individually, the medal was awarded to the Indian team represented by all three of them. “All three boys took part in the classical, rapid and blitz formats,” she said.
On how Arnav got hooked to chess, his mother said, “He decided to take it up after watching a match played by Indian grandmaster Gukesh D. He was spellbound by how Gukesh dominated the board and won. When he was done watching, Arnav declared he too will play chess,” Vineetha said. Arnav also plays football, says Vineetha, adding that he has been undergoing training at the Young Blasters Sporthood Academy (YBSA). “He still loves football,” she said.
While he started training at a chess academy, of late, Arnav has shifted to online coaching, said Vineetha.
“He was the champion of this year’s Kerala State Under-9 chess championship conducted by the Kerala Chess Association,” she said.
Neithal is a student of Matha School in Alappuzha’s Thumpoly, while Thrissur native Ilaan Shafeeq is a student at the Indian School Bousher in Muscat. The trio qualified for the Asian Championship after securing the first three spots in the National Championship held in Guwahati last year.