A BOLD Prediction

BY ROHIT BHARDWAJ
New Delhi

July 2: “I will be a Grand Master by the end of this year,” said former under-10 world champion Sahaj Grover, who completed his third and final International Master norm recently, from Paris on Wednesday.

Sahaj is playing in the Paris Championship and has already held two GMs Quintana Omar Almeida and Andrei Shchekachev in the first and second round respectively though he lost to IM Shirazi Kamran in the third round.

Sahaj, 12, completed his third and final International Master norm at the Balatonlelle chess festival in Hungary last week after finishing clear second in a field of six players. Sahaj will be officially be awarded the IM title when he crosses the 2400 ELO rating barrier.

This has been a terrific season for this Delhi lad who completed all three IM norms in a period of seven months, starting with his first norm at the Commonwealth championship here in December and the second norm at the Reykjavik International open tournament at Iceland in March.

Giving credit to his trainer Vishal Sareen, Sahaj said, “It became easier only because of my trainer. He pumped up my confidence and told me to have faith in my abilities.”

“Sahaj is developing as a strong player. He possesses a unique style and initiates moves in his opponents. But even then I must say, he needs a lot more nurturing and this healthy trend needs to continue,” Sareen, who is accompanying him for the Paris tournament, told this paper on Wednesday.

But Sahaj is unfazed by the praise showered upon him by his trainer. “I think I need to improve on all counts — opening, middle and end games. But my game has become more attacking,” Sahaj said.

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