It was joy as well as relief which gripped Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury when he crossed the 2500 Elo rating mark at the recent Stavanger Open chess competition in Norway. Satisfaction because it earned him the coveted Grandmaster (GM) title and relief because his wait at the doorstep was making him uneasy.
With the title every chess player aspires for under his belt, the 31-year-old from Kolkata has become India’s 32nd GM. Given that the average age of chess players at the time of securing GM titles is coming down, Saptarshi’s is not perhaps a glorious journey. Rather, it’s a story of perseverance.
“The joy of achieving what i was striving for is obviously there. There was relief as well, because this ‘what if I couldn’t feeling’ was also on the back of my mind. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t aware of what happened to GB Prakash,” said Saptarshi from Kolkata.
Prakash is the protagonist in a tragic story in Indian chess at a time when most others are ending on a happy note. For a player to become a GM, one has to collect three GM norms and touch 2500 in Elo ratings. Prakash completed 3 GM norms but could not touch the 2500 rating mark. For all his hard work, the elder brother of GM-turned-coach RB Ramesh could not become a GM.
Saptarshi was all the more aware of the Prakash tale because his third and final GM norm came way back in 2010 and the next three years was a struggle to push his rating beyond 2500. He admits that the wait was getting too long for comfort as he was feeling uneasy in the end. “I was so near yet so far and this was making me restless. It could adversely affect my preparation and on the other hand, make me extra motivated. Being a positive sort of a person, I kept pushing myself during what turned out to be a long but fruitful wait,” he said
Saptarshi’s aim now is to touch the 2600 rating mark. It has been seen in recent years that most Indian players say this after bagging the GM title, but just a handful of them manage to stay there. India’s latest entrant to the GM club is aware of this. “For that you need to consistently play abroad and hire coaches who could charge 300 euros a day. All this is beyond my means at this point in time.”
For Saptarshi, it’s not about numbers at the moment. It’s the continuation of a journey which has brought him thus far and looking ahead.