Smart move

Jamshedpur, March 8: Jharkhand has found its first Grandmaster (GM) in 22-year-old Deep Sengupta.

Quick thinking and smart moves helped the Chakradharpur Chess Academy (CCA) product notch the desired elo rating at the FIJ-10 (Open-A) Tournament in Cannes yesterday to bag the coveted title.

All Jharkhand Chess Association secretary Neeraj Kumar Mishra said Deep scored seven points out of a possible nine and finished third on tiebreaker.

“He lost only one game to the eventual champion, French Grandmaster Gharamian Tigran (rating 2609), in the third round and, in the last round, he conceded two draws to Song Julien and Bauer Christian.”

Deep’s title will be confirmed in the next FIDE congress, although he has completed all formalities required for the GM title, Mishra added.

In order to win the title, a player has to have 2600 elo rating. Deep had 2521 before he flew to Cannes for the tourney, which began on February 28.

The 22-year-old, who has always been considered a Grandmaster in the making, now resides in Calcutta with his parents. He spent his childhood in Chakradharpur, learning the moves from expert players.

Enormously talented, Deep is now on stipend with Indian Oil. He is working on his game under Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua.

A glance at his list of achievements will reveal how he has slowly but steadily made his way up the ladder.

Deep shot to fame after annexing the world Under-12 title in Spain in 2000. He also pocketed titles in seven international rating and GM tournaments across the globe, including ones in Dubai and Bangladesh. He has been a Commonwealth champion in U-12, U-14 and U-16 categories, and has won six national titles.

Chakradharpur celebrated as the news of glory reached CCA, which wasted no time in demanding Arjuna Award for Deep. “We request the sports department to forward his name. We are extremely happy that our boy has reached the summit,” said U. Battabyal, secretary, CCA.