There are Problems but Indians can Make it: Polgar
By Vishnu Prasad | ENS – CHENNAI
Published: 03rd December 2013 11:23 AM
Last Updated: 03rd December 2013 03:42 PM
She developed quite a bond with India during the recent World Chess Championship match and Susan Polgar thinks she knows just what is wrong with Indian chess. TNIE reported on Sunday how a lack of world-class tournaments had affected the development of chess players in India, but Polgar thinks there is more to the issue than meets the eye.
“Having world class tournaments is just one of the many aspects. A special nationalised one-on-one training programme with the absolute best players with top level talent is also required. But this requires either corporate sponsorship or government support,” said the former women’s world champion who was in Chennai as commentator during the World Championship tie.
Polgar brings up the case of Pentala Harikrishna and Parimarjan Negi, both of whom had bright starts to their careers, but has since not risen as fast as some of their contemporaries.
“Both of them are very talented, and both excelled when they were young. They have also achieved quite a bit in their careers so far. However, there is a big difference between being very good and being in the top 5-10 in the world with the potential of challenging for the world title. To reach the top 5-10 or even the very top, training hard alone is not enough. There has to be detailed special training to eliminate almost all weaknesses and improve on natural strengths. This is similar to what I do with my SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) at Webster University in St Louis. An example is Wesley So. He was around 2650 when he started with me last year. Within about a year, he went to 2719.”
She also believes one of the main reasons behind Viswanathan Anand’s prolonged success was his decision to leave India and relocate himself to Spain. “Yes, Anand would have been less successful had he remained in India. It is difficult to travel so far and deal with jetlag issues. There are also more opportunities in Europe.”
The country may not have found a natural successor to Anand, but Polgar does not believe all is doom and gloom for Indian chess. “There are some good prospects like Vidit Gujrathi, MR Lalith Babu, SP Sethuraman, Vaibhav Suri, and especially Aravindh Chithambaram. But they require full-time training. Technology is one of the issues. Better software and hardware can lead to better analysis. They will need a lot of help to make the step up in the coming years.”
Source: http://newindianexpress.com
This kid is talented.
I hope Susan can help out some of the really talented kids from India,as otherwise it will all go down the drain.
India is number one chess country in the world.
Anyone who helps India must know that there are talented children in neighboring to India all countries also, so why not help them first?