Kidambi promises much

By Arvind Aaron

CHENNAI, AUG. 5. Sundararajan Kidambi, a 17-year-old school boy from Chennai, became India's latest International Master when he completed his third and final norm at the Biel Open chess tournament in Switzerland on Friday.

Kidambi who qualified himself to get the International Master title would be listed in the January 2001 FIDE Elo rating list with a `m' beside his name, denoting his new status.

His father, Dr. Srinivasa Kannan, told The Hindu that the win had brought happiness to their home after a technical fault had earlier eluded his norm in this tournament. ``After being close to making it since last summer it was a happy ending,'' he said.

The International Master title is the second strongest title in chess after the Grandmaster title. His father also expressed hope that his son would start making GM norms within two years. Kidambi is proceeding from Biel to Amsterdam where he will play the Lost Boys B.V. Open from August 11-21, an event that offers GM norms possibilities. Thereafter, he will play in the Asian Junior championship in Mumbai from August 29 where he can hope for the GM norm if he wins the title. After that event, he is most likely to concentrate on his school final exams.

Kidambi, born on December 29, 1982 learnt the moves from his neighbours and had International Master V. Ravikumar and International Arbiter S. Paul Arokia Raj as trainers in his early days. Later, he trained with Mr. S. Krishnan, father of GM K. Sashikiran. He played together with Sashikiran and became his sparring partner. They remain that way till today but are meeting less and less often due to their demanding schedules. That was his foundation in chess and his career was in proper hands.

Noticing that by skipping school for a year one could high jump in one's chess clearing hurdles, he followed the Sashikiran way and focused on chess in 1998-99 skipping school. Soon, in the summer of 1999 he made IM norms at Biel 1999, and from the British championship 1999. This norm, also at Biel, his third and final one, makes him India's latest IM.

Unlike several sportsmen, Kidambi is equally proficient in his studies. He is a twelfth standard student in Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School, K.K. Nagar in Chennai.

How devoted he is to the game can be gauged from the fact that he showed a keen desire to meet Anand during his half-yearly examination last December. Anand who was in Chennai for a brief stay invited him for tea and they spent a whole evening discussing chess. In the end, the chess chat became too hectic that a mind-clearing visit to the nearby Neelangarai beach became a necessity. This boy does not miss opportunities.

This small-built boy with glasses, and a steep learning curve and understanding for the game, symbolises the relative new belief that the Indian physique is tailor-made to excel in chess.

Born to medical doctors, Mallika and Srinivasa Kannan, he has a younger brother, Bharatraj Kidambi, who is beginning to get noticed. Sundararajan Kidambi has won two national titles, the u- 14 rapid in 1996 and the National Junior in 1998 ahead of his more famous partner Sashikiran.

This millennium, however, started on an unlucky note for him. He lost his Junior title in a play-off to Ganguly, then he failed in many events including the first half of the National `A' at Mumbai. His advisers reassessed the situation of being `too positive' and have prescribed `safe and cautious' openings for him and the latest norm comes as a result of it.

He is the youngest International Master presently from Tamil Nadu and his promise is backed up dedicated training using computers. Kidambi also makes use of a lap top computer. With age and the IM title on his side, he can now safely think of the GM title. He has the talent to make it and holds great promise.

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