The Beginning of the Journey

June, 2009. A sea of new faces. It was my first week in college. Being the introvert that I was, I hadn’t made many new friends. I still wasn’t comfortable hanging out with anyone. It was a boring lecture and I momentarily decided that I would bunk the class.

I was wandering aimlessly in the corridors of the new college that I was yet to get familiar with. I came across a couple of guys huddled over something. Being stirred by curiosity, I went closer and saw that they were engrossed over a black and white board with different pieces on it. Chess. That was all I knew. It was interesting to see the different ways the different pieces were being moved. I stayed on till the end of the game and watched in fascination.

Once the game was over, they packed up and left. I was too shy to talk to anyone. I went away too. The next day, I went to the same basement at the same time. I admit that I was disappointed not to find them there. I continued my aimless wandering that brought me to the sports room. There they were! Huddled over another game of chess. I stood there and watched them play. The same guy who had won the previous day, seeing me there for the second time, smiled at me. That encouraged me to talk to him. We soon became close friends.

On seeing my fascination in the game, Karthi, as I now fondly call him, taught me the basic moves. By the time I learnt it, I was eager for more. I began reading more on the game. Our college had very strong players who used to defeat me in 4-move checkmates. I lost hundreds of games and that made me practice more. I used to find excuses to go to the library just so that I could play chess online. I even got warned against doing that. I was still not deterred. My hard work finally paid off when I won the intra-collegiate chess competition. I finally, played my first tournament, The Hosur Chess Academy Monthly Tournament in Hosur in August 2009.

This gave me confidence to play in other tournaments. Once I was strong enough, I began participating in FIDE rated tournaments, the first one being in Mysuru. Soon after, I won the under-25 category prize in Hyderabad in a rapid tournament. This is the story of how chess came into my life at 16. I still have a long way to go. Just like all other chess players, I too dream of becoming a Grand Master someday. I dream of inspiring children to take up chess at a young age and progress in the title ladder soon. Lately, I have only been concentrating on coaching, but intend to improve my games and rating in the near future.

Chess changed my life in a way I never would have expected. My mental skills improved rapidly and my disinterested attitude moulded into an attitude of hunger to learn. It gave me the much needed confidence and certainly boosted my morale. The journey of 8 years looks long, but when I look back, I realize that I still have a long way to go.

My motto stands solid. Chess is life, life is chess.

- Sudeep S