Chess Master in the making

Chess Master in the making
Rahul Ramakrishna | April 29, 2012

Two years of chess has made Sri Kaustubha intimate with the chess board. For an 11-year-old, he is intensely passionate about his game, a platonic conversationalist whose conversations can span anything and everything, from Mikhael Tal to wild sacrifices to his love for english literature. At the NMDC Chess Tournament, Sri Kaustubha beat Kavya Srishti to stand second in the Under 11 tournament.

For an 11-year-old, he is clear about his game and his favourites. He loves Tal, disapproves of Anand, enjoys blitz and overall, he loves his sacrifices. “ I like Tal because I like wild games. I like wild games because I like sacrifices,” he says. Kaustubha’s games are inspired mostly by Tal’s unprecedented attack formations. A shy, reserved young lad, he grows expressive in his love for Tal. “ I like his aggression. Unlike Anand, who is always defensive in his approach, Tal is straight forward, aggressive and unprecedented,” he says.

Mikhael Tal was one of the most famous Grand Masters in chess history, prominent for his freestyle and wild methods of playing chess that included deliberate sacrifices.

It is hard to find a chess player who does not believe in saving his pieces. Kaustubha is an exception. His games are marked by continous aggression, be it black or white, a tactic that is rare among the chess circles of the city. Although he has not got a FIDE rating yet, he is hopeful especially after this tournament. He has played with seven rated players with a commendable rating performance of 132.

And how does he fare academically? His beaming mother Suma, answers, “Academically he is focussed. We make sure his chess indulgences do not interfere with his academics.”

Apart from chess,this seventh class student of Hyderabad Public School, Ramanthapur, enjoys reading and playing table tennis among other things. His love for chess is paralleled by his love for english literature. It is children like Kaustubha who teach us how easy it is to be versatile without a garb of sophistication. Not because they wish to, but because they simply are.

Source: http://postnoon.com