Wonder child: Making the right moves at right age
Dev Shah, a 7-year-old chess prodigy from south Mumbai, is one to watch out for in 2015.
Children of his age could still be sucking thumbs or probably drawing vicarious pleasure by furiously crushing away the multi-buttoned joysticks of an X-Box and PS4. Coming from an affluent family, he can afford either or both of these devices in his bedroom.
His is an age when children conveniently get drawn towards the vices of virtual pleasures. They wield Prince of Persia, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings - the games, not the books. Gaming, rather than playing, is what every kid tends to do these days.
Precocity or wizardry, the boy’s maturity goes beyond his age. One may, sure, call it a clichéd statement, but it is an expression of an instant impression. At 7, you don’t see children researching an opening that is seldom played in the game of blacks and whites. The world school under-7 chess championship gold in Brazil did not come just like that to him.
The popular openings are Ruy Lopez, Sicilian or Queen’s/King’s Gambit. Some go for the King’s Indian, Queen’s Indian or the usual English and Spanish Openings. They are easy to remember and not very difficult to overcome.
Dev’s preferred choice is one complicated Scotch Opening, something that is not exactly popular among Grandmasters and not necessarily easy to master. Viswanathan Anand hardly plays this line. Garry Kasparov and Jan Timman used it a few times, but only as a surprise weapon to avoid the highly-researched Ruy Lopez.
Seasoned players would tell you that those who win in serious chess are the ones who play the rare lines and opt for surprise openings. Still taking baby steps in this cerebral game but, you bet, he already knows what it takes to outwit the opponent across the board.
His style of play is to surprise the opponent, and he had once held veteran Grandmaster Sriram Jha to a draw. In Brazil, he played nine games and won all. Only seven, and he has already taken a liking for competitive chess. Gold in the state Under-7 championship, gold in Commonwealth U-10 boys’ competition, silver in national U-7 meet and silver in Asian school chess at the age of five are some of his achievements. His parents soon may have to prepare a cupboard to store his trophies.
With an environment best suited for chess, Dev has the rare luxury to pursue his career. Rahul, his father, is willing to go any distance to ensure the child realises the sparkling promise he has shown. “I’ll not put pressure on him. It is up to him what he chooses as his career. But if it is chess, I will extend the best possible support,” says Rahul, a Napean Sea Road resident.
His coach sees the advantage of having supportive parents and an equally helpful school. “Dev is blessed with everything. It is his disciplined upbringing and the near perfect environment at home that has helped him manage his time well on a daily basis. It has, in turn, helped him transform his way of thinking, like those of kids twice his age,” says Balaji Guttula, who has been coaching him for three years at SMCA, a coaching centre in south Mumbai. “Dev has gone through tremendous transformation during his journey with us.”
What he has achieved at this age is not as significant as what he can. He has already caught the attention of the media and comparisons with Magnus Carlsen have already started. Dev saw the Norwegian, himself a prodigy, in Chennai last year. But he went there to meet Anand, his favourite. “I don’t like Carlsen. Anand is my favourite,” he says, typically in predictable childish candour.
Comparing a seven-year-old with Anand or Carlsen is needless, and transforming the early promise into talent will be a challenge for Dev’s parents and coaches. Although India is a super power in world chess, Mumbai, unlike places like Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi and even Pune, is not a serious chess hub in the country. The city has not produced a GM since Pravin Thipsay won the title in 1997. Seventeen years is too long a wait and it is up to the youngsters of the city, like Dev Shah, to prove that GMs can come from our city too.
Children of his age could still be sucking thumbs or probably drawing vicarious pleasure by furiously crushing away the multi-buttoned joysticks of an X-Box and PS4. Coming from an affluent family, he can afford either or both of these devices in his bedroom.
His is an age when children conveniently get drawn towards the vices of virtual pleasures. They wield Prince of Persia, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings - the games, not the books. Gaming, rather than playing, is what every kid tends to do these days.
Dev Shah, though, is not one of those kids and it is only natural that he has managed to avoid the temptations of video and computer games. If you have still caught him before a computer, chances are that he would be sharpening his skills in a game of chess. He is one of the youngest Candidates Masters from Mumbai.
Precocity or wizardry, the boy’s maturity goes beyond his age. One may, sure, call it a clichéd statement, but it is an expression of an instant impression. At 7, you don’t see children researching an opening that is seldom played in the game of blacks and whites. The world school under-7 chess championship gold in Brazil did not come just like that to him.
The popular openings are Ruy Lopez, Sicilian or Queen’s/King’s Gambit. Some go for the King’s Indian, Queen’s Indian or the usual English and Spanish Openings. They are easy to remember and not very difficult to overcome.
Dev’s preferred choice is one complicated Scotch Opening, something that is not exactly popular among Grandmasters and not necessarily easy to master. Viswanathan Anand hardly plays this line. Garry Kasparov and Jan Timman used it a few times, but only as a surprise weapon to avoid the highly-researched Ruy Lopez.
Seasoned players would tell you that those who win in serious chess are the ones who play the rare lines and opt for surprise openings. Still taking baby steps in this cerebral game but, you bet, he already knows what it takes to outwit the opponent across the board.
His style of play is to surprise the opponent, and he had once held veteran Grandmaster Sriram Jha to a draw. In Brazil, he played nine games and won all. Only seven, and he has already taken a liking for competitive chess. Gold in the state Under-7 championship, gold in Commonwealth U-10 boys’ competition, silver in national U-7 meet and silver in Asian school chess at the age of five are some of his achievements. His parents soon may have to prepare a cupboard to store his trophies.
With an environment best suited for chess, Dev has the rare luxury to pursue his career. Rahul, his father, is willing to go any distance to ensure the child realises the sparkling promise he has shown. “I’ll not put pressure on him. It is up to him what he chooses as his career. But if it is chess, I will extend the best possible support,” says Rahul, a Napean Sea Road resident.
His coach sees the advantage of having supportive parents and an equally helpful school. “Dev is blessed with everything. It is his disciplined upbringing and the near perfect environment at home that has helped him manage his time well on a daily basis. It has, in turn, helped him transform his way of thinking, like those of kids twice his age,” says Balaji Guttula, who has been coaching him for three years at SMCA, a coaching centre in south Mumbai. “Dev has gone through tremendous transformation during his journey with us.”
What he has achieved at this age is not as significant as what he can. He has already caught the attention of the media and comparisons with Magnus Carlsen have already started. Dev saw the Norwegian, himself a prodigy, in Chennai last year. But he went there to meet Anand, his favourite. “I don’t like Carlsen. Anand is my favourite,” he says, typically in predictable childish candour.
Comparing a seven-year-old with Anand or Carlsen is needless, and transforming the early promise into talent will be a challenge for Dev’s parents and coaches. Although India is a super power in world chess, Mumbai, unlike places like Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi and even Pune, is not a serious chess hub in the country. The city has not produced a GM since Pravin Thipsay won the title in 1997. Seventeen years is too long a wait and it is up to the youngsters of the city, like Dev Shah, to prove that GMs can come from our city too.
