The room lights up with good vibes when A.S. Sharvaanica skips into her home in Udayarapalayam, Ariyalur district, with a cheerful smile. Dressed in the India blazer, a pink tee-shirt and jeans, the nine-year-old chess champion’s accessories — socks and headband with black-and-white chessboard pattern — reiterate her love for the game.
Sharvaanica, affectionately called Sharvaa by her folks, may look diminutive, but has an impressive presence in competitive chess.
“I like to win, and prepare myself for it beforehand,” she says, as her elder sister Ratshikaa helps her get ready to face the camera. With her mop of curls resecured behind her headband and a fresh application of sacred ash on her forehead, Sharvaanica is excited as she is asked to pose in front of her medals and trophies.
Judging by the growing number of awards, a bigger shelf would soon be needed. This week, Sharvaanica obtained the title of Woman Candidate Master from FIDE, indicating her upward trajectory in the game.
Debuting in 2022 in competitive chess, Sharvaanica is famous in the circuit for her tendency to make a clean sweep in most tournaments. At the FIDE World Cadet Rapid and Blitz championship event in Durres, Albania, in April this year, she won the gold in the Rapid and the silver medal in Blitz Under-10 categories.
Earlier in February, she won gold in the Under-10 Classical and Under-10 Blitz categories at the Commonwealth Chess Championship held in Malaysia.
Sharvaanica with some of her impressive haul of medals and trophies.
| Photo Credit:
M. MOORTHY
A life in squares
Life has been a rollercoaster ride for Sharvaanica since her sister introduced her to the board game during the lockdown. “None of us had played or even heard of chess before our elder daughter learned it at school,” says P Saravanan, a weaver. “Ratshikaa would play with Sharvaanica during the weekends, and soon recognised her younger sister’s talent for the game.”
Ratshikaa, a Class XII student, also played competitively at the State and national level, and has now decided to step back to concentrate on her public exams.
Sharvaanica, meanwhile, is being mentored to go pro.
At the 2022 State Championships, she won the gold in U-7 in Tiruvarur, silver in U-8 (Chennai) and bronze in U-10 (Ramanathapuram) and followed it up by emerging victorious at the National Under-7 championships in Gujarat, where she won all the 11 games, and Under-7 (school) in Odisha.
The same year also saw her scoring the perfect hat-trick in three formats — Classical (9/9), Rapid (7/7) and Blitz (7/7), at the Asian Schools Championship held in Kalathura, Sri Lanka.
In December 2023, she bagged gold medals in U-8 Rapid and Blitz and the Silver in the Classical competitions at the 25th Asian Youth Chess Championships held in Al Ain, UAE.
Suitcases are stacked up in her home, testimony to the chess champion’s itinerant life.
Sharvaanica’s talent has made her a celebrity at home. Her sister and father maintain her online social media presence, with regular updates on her latest games. “People are always requesting her for selfies or to be the chief guest at their functions in Udayarpalayam. Our family and friends were initially against our decision to hone Sharvaanica’s talent for chess. But now, as she brings in the accolades from far and wide, they are beginning to support her. Sharvaa loves representing India on the world stage,” says P Anburoja, her mother.
The right moves
The family has tried its best to facilitate Sharvaanica’s training with their modest means. “Seeing her potential, we have decided to make her a chess professional. She has been training at the Hatsun Chess Academy in Tiruthangal, Sivakasi since 2021, and since the training is intense, I have shifted there for the duration of her course. Earlier, we used to travel once every few weeks to the academy from Udayarpalayam; now we are renting a home in Sivakasi so Sharvaanica can study in peace,” says Anburoja.
When she is not training, she amuses herself by solving chess puzzles. “My parents, sister and the akkas and annas from my mother’s tuition centre are my friends. There is no TV at home, so I don’t watch it,” says Sharvaanica.
Velammal Vidhyalaya in Aynambakkam, Chennai is sponsoring the education of Ratshikaa and Sharvaanica.
While her elder sister is a boarder, Sharvaanica is tutored by her mother, who used to run a tuition centre in Udayarpalayam. “From an early age, Sharvaa was very clever — she could memorise concepts very quickly, while observing the students at our tuition centre. Whether it was the English alphabet or multiplication tables, she could recite them backwards, too. I help her prepare for the school exams, after she has finished her chess lessons,” says Anburoja.
Training for the hot seat
The future of competitive chess seems to be in the firm grasp of youngsters, at least in India.
“Chess belongs to young children, as they are more attentive, sharp, and focused compared to adults. Dommaraju Gukesh, whom I trained, became a grandmaster at age 12. Candidates from a rural background are a speciality of Hatsun Academy, because it would be impossible to do this in Chennai or any other big city. Not just for Sharvaanica, everyone who studies at the academy is under a scholarship programme. It is aimed at promoting chess and giving opportunities to children from a rural background,” says grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna, Sharvaanica’s coach.
He says Sharvaanica’s signature style is still in a formative stage. “We know how she plays, but we have not defined it yet, because it will change as she grows older. She is still learning a lot of things about herself. Many ideas have come from her sister, who coached her first, but that may not turn out to be Sharvaanica’s signature style in the end.”
How does she face defeat? “Since she is just a child, Sharvaanica is not used to losing at crucial events, so she does cry when that happens. I always have a chat with her to look at the long picture, and not to expect success in every match,” he says.
To strengthen her game, Sharvaanica has been competing in Opens, rather than age-specific categories. “We are trying to help her achieve the Woman International Master (WIM) title, or at least get close to it,” says Prasanna.
A.S. Sharvaanica with her family members from left P. Anburoja (mother), A.S.Ratshikaa (sister) and P. Saravanan (father) at Udayarpalayam.
| Photo Credit:
M.MOORTHY
