Aravindh Chithambaram most talented after five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand: RB Ramesh

Aravindh Chithambaram is the new poster boy of Indian chess. The 25-year-old, who “is the most talented player after Viswanathan Anand” according to coach R. B. Ramesh, is making waves after winning the Prague Masters on Saturday. The ‘late bloomer’ defeated strong contenders in Dutchman Anish Giri, Wei Yi of China and Germany’s Vincent Keymer. 

At 25 years, with two classical titles in four months, what has changed? Aravindh laughs, “I don’t know what exactly happened. Something has changed. I am unable to figure it out. Everything has come together for me. Better late than never.”

According to the Chennai Grandmaster, the Prague win was sweet because he played some really good games and loved all of them. “I loved my games with Anish, Wei and Keymer. With Anish, I found a good sequence of moves (Queen h4 and Knight g5). I took a risky opening. Generally, it’s considered to be objectively bad. According to the engine and general analysis, the move was considered risky. I thought, ‘Why not try this?’. It turned out to be a good decision,” he said.

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Against the Chinese GM, Aravindh said it was the preparation that helped him secure a win. “It’s very hard to beat Wei. In general, the Chinese are very hard to beat. But with Wei, I was well prepared.”

Against Keymer, Aravindh played Queen’s Gambit Accepted, a unique opening. “It’s a rare line for which Keymer was not prepared,” said the Prague Masters champion. 

Indian men’s chess, opined Aravindh, is so strong that the country can field as many as three if not two teams for Olympiads in the future. “We might have two strong teams that will be contenders for Olympiads. We can even go with three teams. That’s the quality of Indian chess,” he said. 

Aravindh has played quite a few games of freestyle chess, which some consider the future. The reigning Chennai GM tournament winner, however, said both classical and freestyle chess will coexist.

Aravindh’s coach Ramesh said whenever he seemed to be doing well, self-doubts pulled him down. “He is very talented, in fact the most talented after five-time world champion Anand. But he was not believing in himself. Self-doubt was his main stumbling block. Now he is sure about himself,” he said.