Chess prodigy Savitha making the right moves

The 15-year-old Chennai girl recently became only the third Indian to win a medal at the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship

Backed by considerable data, observers and analysts over decades have believed that the white on a chessboard has a slight advantage over the black - making it the preferred choice of most players.

Savitha Shri B, the recently crowned FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship bronze medallist, like many other top competitors is no different when it comes to their love for white.

“I get irked when I have to play a game with black,” said the Chennai girl, who considers E4 (the king’s pawn opening) as her favorite first move. “With white, we get to make the opening move that gives me an added sense of confidence.”

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Ironically, it was the wins while playing with the black in round seven and 10 that helped the 15-year-old take steps towards a podium finish at the tournament held in Almaty, Kazakhstan in December.

Savitha defeated Bulgaria’s Stefanova Antoaneta, a former women’s world champion, in round seven before taking down Singapore’s Gong Qianyun in a must-win round 10 clash.

This was possible by employing one of her favoured armours, the Sicilian defence (black’s most popular response to white’s E4), that became her go-to counter-attack move that gave Savitha the momentum during the matches.

Variations

Tackling such concrete variations smartly along with her aggressive style of play helped the youngster accumulate eight points out of 11 rounds (seven wins, two draws, two losses) to finish third in a tough field of 98 players that had the world’s best in fray.

The teenager’s biggest achievement yet put Savitha’s name next to Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy - the two other Indians to have won a medal at the event thus far.

Savitha, who trains under coach Adi Ramesh at the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy in Chennai, felt that the experience she gained during the three-month competition stint in Europe last year acted as the catalyst in taking her young career forward.

“I stayed in Europe for more than two-and-a-half months where I increased my ratings and got my WGM (Woman Grandmaster) norm. That was the most important hurdle to cross and I carried that confidence going into the tournaments that came after,” explained Savitha, who began her tryst with chess at the age of four.

Now with her name among a burgeoning list of talented young chess players from the country, the 11th grade commerce student from Velammal Vidyalaya wants to focus on improving her game while enjoying the process of solving complex situations on the 64 checkerboard.

“We plan to travel to Norway in February. I go by my instinct and take one tournament at a time. Keeping myself calm through breathing drills and meditation and starting a physical fitness regime will be my prime focus this year,” she added.

With relentless support from father, Bhaskar, and mother, Sarala, the teen who banks on first moves to set the tone on the chessboard has already made an impressive start to a long sporting journey that lies ahead. And Savitha has her eyes firmly set on conquering bigger frontiers.