Champions are made of sterner stuff. They have the ability to use defeat as a stepping-stone to success. In barely a year’s time, Soumya Swaminathan has turned heartbreak into joy. Circa 2008 — she missed the bronze medal in the World Junior Girls’ Chess Championship after losing in the final round to Kubra Ozturk in Gaziantep, Turkey. A year later, in 2009, the 20-year-old kept her nerve and outplayed Ozturk in the final round to win the World Junior Girls’ title in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. In the process, she became the third Indian girl to win the world title after Koneru Humpy (2001) and Dronavalli Harika (2008).
Starting as ninth seed, Soumya struck a purple patch in the middle phase of the tournament, winning five straight games, which included a victory over second seed Chinese Zhang Xiaowen. The situation became tricky when she lost in the penultimate round to Cori Tello Deysi of Peru.
When the last round started, three players had a chance of winning the tournament — Cemre Betul Yildiz, Soumya and Cori, with Yildiz holding a half-point lead over the others. Kiran Manisha Mohanty did the Indian a favour by holding Yildiz to a draw.
Soumya and Cori won, but Soumya emerged champion because of a better tie-break score. She won eight games, drew three and lost two.
Soumya, who capitalised on Ozturk’s mistake on the 19th move to seal victory in 36 moves from the white side of Anti-Marshall, secured 9.5 points from 13 rounds. She had an ELO performance rating of 2433 and gained six points to hold a rating of 2303 on the current rating list. For winning the world title she got one IM norm (second IM norm overall).
Soumya’s victory has underlined yet again India’s rise as a chess power.
“Excellent performance. She was leading for most of the tournament and played well. Soumya came back strongly in the final round after losing the penultimate round which she could have drawn,” says former national champion and GM Abhijit Kunte, who has played a big part in Soumya’s growth as a chess player.
Soumya has improved by leaps and bounds in the last three years. From 2007 onwards, it has been an upward curve for this Pune girl. She became a WGM in 2008 after gaining three WGM norms in the Balaguer Open, the Women’s National ‘A’ Championship in Pune and the Benasque Open.
“Soumya is an aggressive player. When she is confident, she can play very well. In the last two to three years, she has played well to gain the required norms and become a WGM,” says Kunte on Soumya’s strengths.
Soumya was fascinated by the game when she saw her mother and brother playing chess at home. She showed talent at the age of nine by finishing second in the National U-10 Championship at Ahmedabad in 1998. Her talent was further vindicated when she followed this performance by winning bronze medals at the Asian U-10 Girls’ and Asian U-12 Girls’ Championships in 1999 and 2000. From that point, it has been steady growth with the high point coming in 2009.
“However, Soumya has fluctuating results sometimes and needs to become more consistent,” analyses Kunte when queried about her shortcomings.
Soumya’s tremendous growth is admirable when one considers that she lost her mother at a young age to an accident. She keeps a photograph of her mother with her whenever she is playing in tournaments and believes this will help her performance.
Soumya’s hard work started bearing fruit when she started winning national-level tournaments from 2004 onwards. She has won the National Junior Girls’ title three times (2005, 2006, 2008), apart from finishing first in the National U-17 Championship in 2004.
The decision of Soumya’s parents to shift from Palakkad to Pune has benefited the champion. Pune is one of the best places for chess in the country, having a lot of strong players. Training and competing on a regular basis with better and equal-level players has sharpened Soumya’s chess skills.
This first-year student at DES Law College, Pune, admires India’s No 1 women’s player and world No 2 Koneru Humpy, and aspires to become world champion one day.
The World Junior Girls’ title should spur Soumya to more glory. Her immediate target will be to win the national women’s title for the first time, when the event takes place next month in Chennai. Her best result in the National Women’s ‘A’ Championship came in 2007 when she finished third after tying for first spot.
Excerpts from an interview with Soumya
On winning the World Junior title with a win in the last round
I am delighted to win the championship. Of course winning the championship with a last-round win over Kozra Ozturk was probably the perfect ending since I had lost to her in the same tournament last year in the last round.
On how difficult it was to overcome defeat in the penultimate round
To be honest, it was not so difficult since I was playing without any pressure. I had already messed up the situation in the 11th and 12th rounds and, hence, I had nothing to lose. I would like to mention that our coach, Magesh Chandran, gave me a pep talk immediately after the penultimate round, which really helped me to give my best in the last round.
On how she prepared for the event
I think my biggest advantage in this tournament I was confident right from the beginning and I didn’t get disappointed even after having a rather modest start. Also our coaches encouraged me throughout the tournament, besides helping me with my preparation, which put me in a positive frame of mind.
On her favourite game in the event
The victory against second seed Zhang Xiaowen of China.
On Puerto Madyrn as a venue
It’s a small and rather windy place. We were staying right opposite to the ocean and the wind was so strong sometimes that it was difficult to move forward. An altogether different experience!
On where she trains in Pune
I train at the Kunte Chess Academy, which is run by Mrunalini Kunte, where I work with other Pune players like Eesha Karavade, Amruta, Prathamesh Mokal and a few others.
On the coaches who have played a big part in her growth
My first coach was Anjali Palande and then I was taught by International Master Arun Vaidya for three years. After that, I worked on my own for a long time. I still do that. From 2007 onwards I have trained with Abhijit Kunte from time to time. He has been more like a mentor to me.
On the part of her game that needs improvement
Technique.
On how she got interested in chess
My mom and brother would play chess at home and that’s how I got interested.
On the role of her parents
My family has been extremely supportive no doubt. My mom taught me to dream big and my dad taught me to overcome disappointments.
On her favourite chess books
My Great Predecessors series by Garry Kasparov and Mark Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual.
On her idols/role models in chess
Koneru Humpy.
On her ultimate ambition in chess
To win the World Championship.
On her other interests
I like dancing, reading, music and surfing the Internet. I also like studying, but not for exams!
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