Coaching 14-year-old GM Nihal Sarin has taught Srinath Narayanan more than he could imagine

I had spent a large part of my teenage years by myself. I spent a lot of those wondering… how was there such a gap between me and my peers, where did it widen so much. I did everything within the reach of my cognitive faculties – reading, analyzing about the subject. I saw that there were some players who were increasing their rating every rating list, while I was doing the opposite – dropping them. However, all my cogitation left me with no answers. No answers until I met Nihal Sarin.

Adults like to give children something to preoccupy themselves, to leave themselves with some free time and mental space. Being around kids, I usually leave my phone bereft of any games, for it used to leave me prone to phone grabbing by them. During Zalakaros Open 2016, having such a phone did not give any immunity from the 12-year-old Nihal. While most kids would browse for apps like Temple Run or Subway Surf and turn back the phone to me disappointed, all Nihal wanted was the Followchess app. He would go through pretty much every game going on, regardless of an elite event or an amateur event, kid’s event or an Open – and at the root of all this was boundless curiosity.

By 2016, I had spent about 17 years with chess. I had received some training, given some training. My views about chess and chess training were shaped by these experiences. My initial attempts to practice chess with Nihal using my conventionally shaped views were met with resistance. However, when I adopted the methods of his previous coach EP Nirmal, and combined it with my chess knowledge, things flowed. Add to this the experience and understanding of his other trainer Komarov Dimitri, who in his heydays had beaten a young Vladimir Kramnik and drawn games with Boris Gelfand, it was a terrific mix. That was the beginning of a shift in my perspective of everything I knew about chess till then.

In our subsequent training since, there was very little conventional work. We didn’t solve positions or analyze openings together. I wasn’t showing him the old classics or make him solve calculation exercises. Instead, we spent all our time playing endless games against each other, watching the games that were going on and analyzing, and just discussing chess freely in general (read: analyzing). In the process, I taught Nihal everything I knew, and learned quite a lot myself.

The sessions themselves were completely freestyle, built on three pillars – doing (playing), observing and analyzing. Analyzing is a generic term, but essentially, it is the process of asking random chess questions based on the position or game we are looking at, learning the answers, and eventually moving towards asking a lot of sensible questions, and finding the answers to the same — an endless loop. The whole process ensures that the learning is understood and internalized. But do note that I am not saying we were reinventing the wheel.

The knowledge from our past experiences is, of course, useful. Just like the information from history is important to the growth of human civilization. They help us ensure that past mistakes are not repeated and these lessons serve as a great starting point. However, the growth stops when they become conclusions. The full truth of the matter is very rarely gleaned from the headline. Unfortunately that’s where a lot of people conclude, and react.

I remember one occasion in a training session, where I tried to get him to solve positions from a popular mainstream book, and tried to make it a competition between us to motivate him. However, after a few minutes, he had already lost interest, explaining to me that the problems in these books had solutions that were too computer like in nature, and therefore was not very useful in solving practical problems. I thought that made a lot of sense. This is another example of Nihal’s pragmatic and critical thinking, over following established norms.

Instead, his strength is trained over solving problems in endless practical games, against opposition stronger than himself. The internet portal chess.com serves for Nihal, the way Shivaji Maidan did for a certain teenager in the 80s. His able manager ensures that he gets to play the quality opposition in over the board games. Statistics show that he has played 30 games against opposition rated above 2600 in the year 2018 alone so far.

A famous foreign grandmaster recently remarked to me how many Indian chess parents treat their children like horses. I’ve encountered a few parents like this myself in my short training experience so far, and while this is a global phenomenon, I feel this tendency is a bit more common among the Asian superpowers (India and China), across disciplines. Nihal’s parents, doctors by profession, stand out in this aspect. Right from the time Nihal was very young, his Father had trained him to listen to everyone but form his own opinions. He is cautious to pass on his learned knowledge, without imposing himself on Nihal. His mother, a psychiatrist, ensures that Nihal is a stable, fully rounded, and well-educated boy. As of now, she is also the only person who has the magical superpower to have Nihal’s complete obedience any time, any day.

On August 14, 1990, a certain 17-year-old Indian cricketer scored his first international century in Old Trafford, England. Fast forward 28 years, on August 14, 2018, the 14-year-old Nihal completed his grandmaster title. And this is his story so far.