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P Shyaamnikhil achieved the prestigious title of India’s 85th Grandmaster after securing his third and final GM norm in the recently concluded Dubai Police Masters chess tournament. He drew with GM Jinshi Bai in the final round to secure his final GM-norm. The accomplishment marked the end of a 12-year journey for the player, who embarked on his chess career at eight.
Shyaamnikhil only needed one win and eight draws to fulfill the long-awaited GM title requirement, which he successfully achieved during the tournament. Despite reaching the necessary 2500 ELO rating points in 2012 with two Grandmaster norms, he had to wait for 12 years to complete the third norm.
'I started playing at the age of eight'
"I started playing at the age of eight, my parents taught me but I could not play any tournament for three years. Winning the under-13 State championship opened up opportunities for me as I could play Asian and age group world championship," Shayaamnikhil said in the post-match presentation.
Hailing from Nagarcoil, Tamil Nadu, Shyaamnikhil faced challenges on his path to becoming a Grandmaster.
“He shifted his base to Chennai to pursue chess despite coming from a modest background and stayed with me,” his former coach K Visweswaran said.
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He secured his first GM norm at the Mumbai Mayors Cup in 2011 and the second during the Indian championship as a teenager. He met the rating requirement in early 2012. However, he missed opportunities during tournaments in Europe and the UAE.
"It was only in 2017 that I played tournaments in Europe, till then I was trying to play in Vietnam or UAE trying to make the final norm but these places are not so easy as the tournaments are very strong," he said.
When questioned about missing a norm in a tournament in France just before the Dubai Police Masters.
"I needed a win in the last round but I drew again and missed the norm again," he said when asked about how he felt about three missed opportunities.
'I wanted to play Chess as enjoyment'
Shyaamnikhil expressed gratitude to his parents and trainer for their unwavering support throughout his career.
“I wanted to play Chess as enjoyment, I like Mikhail Tal and Garry Kasparov. I would like to dedicate this to my parents, who have waited a long time for this title, my trainer Visweswaran sir also helped a great deal,” Now that the title is done, I can play more freely," he concluded.
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