Srinath set for a long journey

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A fight within the family during a train journey has given the chess world a budding champion.

“We were travelling as a group and my elder son was playing chess with my nephew. My younger son Srinath also wanted to join them but he wasn’t given a chance. That made him determined to learn chess and today he is an International Master,” said Srinath’s father Narayanan.

Having started his career resolutely at age six, Srinath achieved success in lightning speed. He won the world U-12 boys’ title apart from becoming the youngest Fide-rated player in India.

He was the toast of current generation of players and he proved his mettle by nailing the IM title in 2008.

However, the 17-year-old’s run on the chess field has slowed down in recent times. He played a forgettable world junior championship in Chennai last month and even withdrew from the tournament before the final round to save some elo rating points.

But the diehard chess lover didn’t allow his poor performance on home soil to wreak his confidence.
Srinath took up the challenge of reclaiming the lost elo points by performing well in a series of tournaments in Italy. While he won 56 elo points in three tournaments in Italy, he narrowly missed a GM norm.

The youngster with a rating of 2336 proved that he is still a force to be reckoned with by defeating five GMs in Italy.

“My son is passionate about chess and he is willing to dedicate his life for the game. The failure at the world juniors was only a hiccup. I am sure he will become a GM soon,” said Narayanan, who accompanied the Srinath to Italy.

A Plus Two commerce student at Velammal Higher Secondary School, Srinath’s other notable high of his career was the silver medal he won at the Asian junior championships at Colombo early this year.

Now, the Chennai boy is gearing up to play in the national premier championship, which will begin at Aurungabad from October 7.

“I will play two more open tournaments at Kolkata and Haryana after the National championship. Then, I would start my preparations for the board examinations,” said Srinath who is hoping to achieve his immediate target of reaching 2450 elo by January.