Girish Kaushik and Diptayan Ghosh

Calcutta: Their maturity defies their age. Despite the odds, Girish Kaushik and Diptayan Ghosh, the current Asian Under-12 and Under-10 champions, have already set their sights on becoming a Grandmaster and world champion.

The two participants of The Telegraph Schools’ Chess Championship spoke on their achievements and dreams. The following is a brief profile of the two players:

GIRISH: At 11, this Mysore boy has already won five international titles — Under-8 Asian champion in 2005, Under-10 world champion in 2006, runners-up in Under-10 Asian championship in 2007, Under-12 Asian champion and gold in Commonwealth Chess in 2008. He also won the national Under-11 title before coming here.

A class VI student of St Thomas in Mysore, he took to chess because of the encouragement from his father Arun. “My father has been a constant source of inspiration… He follows me everywhere. He is my coach,” said the youngster.

He has also enjoyed the support of his school in his endeavour. “From January to April, I concentrate only on studies. Chess is a strict no-no then… From May it’s back to chess and the school grants him special leave for participating in tournaments,” said his father, who gave up his business to concentrate on his son’s career. “Girish needs Grandmaster’s coaching at this stage of his career. AICF should come forward.”

A Garri Kasparov fan, he is the youngest Fide Master and has a current rating of 2108. “He enjoys the support of the state government, but he needs the backing of corporate houses to meet the growing expenses. That is hard to come by…” laments his father.

DIPTAYAN: Having started playing chess as a pastime with his grandmother from an early age, he hardly realised he would fall in love with the game. The growing interest soon developed into a passion and the youngster has already made a name for himself. “I took to chess because I love the mind games,” said the 10-year-old class V student of South Point School.

A member of the Alekhine Chess Club, he hones his skills under the guidance of Saptarshi Roy. State champion Shankar Roy also advises him at his residence. The youngster idolises Vladimir Kramnik, and is now concentrating on improving his position play. “I’m also concentrating on the opening and middle games… That is the most important aspect,” he said.

“The Asian title gave me the most satisfaction. It was an international meet and competition was tough. It was a sort of eye opener,” the former national Under-9 champion added. He is now looking forward to the Commonwealth meet in Nagpur later this month and the World Youth Championship in Vietnam next month.

An Adam Gilchrist fan, he is also a keen follower of cricket. “I don’t get the time to play cricket, but I don’t miss the action on the field.”