FRESH from achieving Grandmaster title in Serbia, Nagpur’s Sankalp Sandeep Gupta has now set his sights on the next target: 2600 Elo rating points. City’s second Grandmaster after Raunak Sadhwani, 18-year-old Sankalp said he will take one step at a time and is not immediately thinking of achieving The Super GM norm. Speaking to reporters for the first time after arriving in the city from Serbia, Sankalp, flanked by his parents — father Sandeep to his right and mother Suman to his left, was confidence personified as he very calmly replied to all the queries. “My next target is achieving 2600 Elo,” was his straight and to-the-point answer when asked about his next aim. “I don’t want to look too far. I will take it to step by step and the next target is achieving 2600 Elo points. I am sure I can achieve it within next year (2022),” elaborated Sankalp, a BBA student of Dr Ambedkar College. Sankalp set a sort of record by achieving his three GM norms in a space of 24 days. He said it was a difficult path but not impossible. “When I stepped in Serbia I had only one aim to achieve the desired elo rating points. I was clear in my planning. Though the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the title (Grandmaster) by over a year, I am happy that I achieved it in just three competitions,” said Sankalp who loves to read finance-related books.

 

His chess journey started from a competition organised by Baljagat in 2000, then the Commonwealth chess, national tournaments and other rating competitions, kept his sojourn moving northwards. “It all started (chess journey) at

my home when Nayandeep Kotangale used to come to our house to train my cousins. The interest developed and I took chess seriously,” he recalled. With 2500 points in his pocket, Sankalp is aware of the tough road ahead. “I am aware that from here on it would be a bit more challenging. I will have to work much more harder to achieve my goals to reach 2600,” he added. Sankalp, who first played his international competition way back in 2016 in Abu Dhabi, was confident that in the next 4-5 years India would have 100 Grandmasters. “I think India will have 100 plus GMs in the next five years. Chess is very rapidly developing in India and I am sure we will achieve that mark,” said the 71st Grandmaster of India. The bespectacled teenager said that playing round-robin tournaments helped him in achieving his GM title. “These round-robin meets helped me in getting the required points. In each competition, I was aware of how many points I will have to collect. That really helped me,” Sankalp explained. Sankalp’s parents too were happy with the achievement of their ward. “We are really very happy.

 

Once I was travelling with him for competition and Sankalp started crying after losing a match. I said him that if he wants to shed tears then leave playing chess. Winning and losing is part and parcel of the game,” recalled father Sandeep. Similarly, Sankalp’s mother Suman said one has to keep focus to achieve anything in life. “Sankalp has been very disciplined and focused. He practices for around 8-10 hours daily. Even during competitions abroad, he knows how to prepare, how to utilise breaks between two rounds. He knows the importance of fitness as well as he has to sit at one place for hours. He does yoga, meditation to keep his body fit and remain mentally calm,” Suman concluded with a broad smile on her face. n