The Hindu : Sport / Chess : No ordinary talent this pre-teen wonder is

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 02, 2006

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Sport - Chess

No ordinary talent this pre-teen wonder is

Rakesh Rao

NEW DELHI: For sometime now, Parimarjan Negi has been making news like no other pre-teen boy in the country.

And on Sunday, this 12-year-old prodigy set a world record by becoming the World's youngest International Master in the game, at present. In doing so, Negi has only reinforced the belief that he is no ordinary talent.

By scoring 3.5 points from the first four rounds of the Hastings Masters chess tournament in Hastings, United Kingdom, Negi accumulated 30 points to raise his effective rating to 2405, five points more than what is needed to become an International Master. He holds four IM norms since November 2003.

On Saturday, Negi broke the record of England's David Howell (born on 14 November, 1990) who made the record in February 2004. At that time, Howell, armed with three IM norms, was 13 years and 97 days when he touched the 2400-mark in the Jersey Festival Open at St. Helier.

Negi met the stipulation at the age of 12 years and 325 days. In the process, Negi improved the Indian record of 13 years, 289 days made by P. Hari Krishna in 2000.

Anand's role

A student of Amity School in New Delhi and under sustained coaching from Kazakh trainer Evgeny Vladimirov, Negi caught the eye of the chess elite when he played in the Corus `C' tournament at Wijk aan Zee, near Amsterdam, in January 2005. In the past year, Viswanathan Anand has been a constant source of encouragement for Negi.

Supported by Tata and Air India, Negi picked up three IM norms during 2005 and scalped several Grandmasters in overseas competitions. For his achievements, Negi was named among the nominees for the Pogo Amazing Kid Awards in 2005.

Ironically, Negi's performances in the National `B', and under-14 competitions in World and Asian championships were below expectations.

One more feather

Negi's latest feat is an addition to the list of firsts he has in Indian chess. He remains the youngest to hold an IM norm in the country since November 2003 when he gained the distinction in the Offene International Bayerishche Meisterschaft at Bad Wiessee, in Germany.

In the 2004 Biel International Masters, Negi became the youngest Indian to beat a Grandmaster by taming Switzerland's Ivan Nemet at the age of 11 years and five months. Negi had improved upon the record of Surya Sekhar Ganguly who had beaten Russia's Gregory Serper in the Goodricke Open in 1995 at the age of 11 years and 11 months.

This talented lad now needs three more points from the next five rounds in the ongoing event at Hastings to become the youngest Indian to make a GM norm. Going by Negi's current form, it looks possible.

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