Chess whiz kid Negi aims for bigger goal

Himanshu Singhal / CNN-IBN
Published on Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 22:53

New Delhi: For nearly two years after becoming the second youngest Grandmaster in chess history, Parimarjan Negi remained a victim of the expectations that he himself gave rise to. But now Negi seems to be fast emerging as a mature player.

In the last two months, Negi has done enough to suggest he is more than just a participant in the big league.

Against all odds, he emerged as a front-runner in three successive events in which he twice tied for the honours…

“I was trying to just concentrate on playing move by move and plan by plan. And not to think about the final result from the start because then it just becomes easier to concentrate on solving one problem. Even if I have a bad position, I just try to survive as long as I can,” says Negi.

For his recent performances, the teenager will gain 40 ELO points to take his tally to 2570 in the rating list.

After a good performance this year, Negi is now aiming for 2600 ELO mark and believes the World Junior Chess Championship later in the year will help him reach that milestone.

“The main thing will be if I can keep performing consistently in the first and second part, and then I will have to just keep on playing game by game. I hope to just do that,” Negi adds.

Negi has already left for Belgium to train with Vladimir Chuchulov and will head straight from there to Istanbul for the World Junior Championships next month.

Source: www.ibnlive.com

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