The Force is Strong in the Young One

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The chessworld is “all agog” about the youngest player to ever upset a Grand Master – 9 year old Hetul Shah –

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” – Mark Twain

New Delhi (IANS): Nine-year old Hetul Shah created history in the first round of the seventh Parsvnath International Open Chess tournament, defeating Grand Master Nurlan Ibrayev of Kazakhstan on Sunday.

…Hetul was a class act Sunday afternoon as he not only recorded his biggest victory but also ensured a name in the record books. Hetul is the youngest ever to beat a Grandmaster, bettering the Indian record set up by Parimarjan Negi by more than a year.

The Hindustan Times gives us this player profile –

He is fiercely competitive and loves challenges. But what sets this nine-year-old apart from the rest of the young players doing the rounds of chess tournaments in the country is his confidence and disregard for reputation.

You Talkin’ To Me, Punk?!?

…”I have never beaten a GM before, so it’s a momentous occasion for me,” said Shah, a fourth standard student of DPS, Ahmedabad. “All that I did was believed in my game. I was a pawn up in the opening itself and by the middlegame I had two-pawn advantage. All that I needed to do was play safe and I managed to win.”

Shah got hooked on to the sport after seeing his sister Charmi play. “I play with her most of the time,” he said.

But, my fav source is this link. It’s great for (a) chess nerds who enjoy snarky play by play commentary and (b) the rest of us who think the picts of little desi kids beating up on older chess players is sorta cute.

36 thoughts on “The Force is Strong in the Young One”

  2. not to be too pedantic, but “up in arms” is the incorrect phrase. should be “all agog” or something like that. “up in arms” conveys a meaning quite different from the one that i suspect you want to convey (it means “are angry” or “are protesting”).

  5. Wow! Ahmedabad is all in the news these days.

    Vikas Swarup from Ahmedabad… Hetal Shah from Ahmedabad…

  7. Gujjubhai, Ahmedabad, chess – hope Nussbaum and Sarabhai are pleased. Or will they find something to mock about this one too?

  8. And the cool thing is that it was a one-on-one match and not a simultaneous performance by the GM.

  9. Still waiting for the day Indians make an impact in a sport that actually requires athletic ability. I’m bored of chess and spelling bee champions.

  10. @nallavan

    Don’t hold your breath. We have better chance breaking through the diaspora than anything homegrown outside of Cricket. One would think since we’re so obsessed with that sport we would at least dominate it. Bengal has an outside chance of cultivating a soccer tradition.

  11. Don’t hold your breath. We have better chance breaking through the diaspora than anything homegrown outside of Cricket. One would think since we’re so obsessed with that sport we would at least dominate it. Bengal has an outside chance of cultivating a soccer tradition.

    Weren’t two Indians-from-India recruited by an American baseball team recently?

    Don’t let your arrogance smack you on your way out.

  12. @an ABD

    By recruited do you winning a prize competition to judge raw pitching talent? Those two weren’t ball players in India nor were sportsmen in any capacity and had to be trained once they came stateside. So thanks for making my point and now GTFO.

  13. 7 · jyotsanau said

    Gujjubhai, Ahmedabad, chess – hope Nussbaum and Sarabhai are pleased. Or will they find something to mock about this one too?

    the absence of the mockery defines your paranoia.

  16. 12 · Nemo said

    By recruited do you winning a prize competition to judge raw pitching talent? Those two weren’t ball players in India nor were sportsmen in any capacity and had to be trained once they came stateside. So thanks for making my point and now GTFO.

    They were javelin throwers.

  18. How about instead of being Negative Nancys, we can just applaud the two Indians in the Pittsburgh Pirate organization, the two in the MLS, and most relevant, Hetul Shah?

    Also, there’s an Indian on America’s Best Dance Crew 3, a Gina Francis of Fly Khicks, from Miami.

  20. Oh, and Anoop Desai on American Idol. With actually controlled hair, unlike Sanjaya.

    Are you from UNC – My little just emailed this; he was one of her classmates.

  24. @ Nemo:

    They certainly have more athletic talent than you actually do. Instead of being a hater, why don’t you go make a name for yourself?

    BTW I thought ABDs were too busy becoming wildly successful neurosurgeon players to become athletes.

  25. No PS, I’m from Texas, but the news has been making its way through my Brown grapevine, ha.

    Cool – what a cute kid and Simon is so mean…

    (I guess when I call him a kid I show my age )

  26. That kid is adorable and to win at such a young age! The next gen of kids is younger and meaner, makes me think of the ending of the movie Cidade de Deus.

  31. …Hetul was a class act Sunday afternoon as he not only recorded his biggest victory but also ensured a name in the record books.

    You know it’s a true desi paper when you see terms like “class act” and expect something in the next sentence, but see something totally different.

  33. I was googling Hetul’s name to find the pronunciation, when I cam across this. One sentence which caught my eye there was this:

    On Monday, when this correspondent tried talking to Hetul, he was more interested in running all over Gujarat Bhavan here, where he is staying with his mother, Sangeeta Shah. After almost 15 minutes of playing the chase game with Hetul, we had to request Sangeeta to catch him and sit him down.

    Chase him down or Chess him down…. haha sorry could nt resist that. Peace all. Have a happy weekend.

  34. Pronunciation for HETUL: HE: quick hay T: Indian T, /t̪/, dental t (put tip of tongue on teeth and say it(putting tongue between teeth makes th sound, above teeth/alveolar maker English t sound (as in but))) (you want a soft t, sort of like the t in French quatre or Italian tutti) UL: ul as in bull

    or HATE-UL, with dental t

  35. 31 · super said

    You know it’s a true desi paper when you see terms like “class act” and expect something in the next sentence, but see something totally different.

    This kind of mangling on English does get me all agog. Or do I mean up in arms?

  36. Damn why can’t you people just congratulate the kid and be proud of his succes instead you must go do that I’m selfhating Indian crap again. I have a feeling that you guys are just JEALOUS at him