My Chess Journey: From a Curious Beginner to a Chess Trainer

My chess journey started when I was eight, studying in standard three. Growing up as an army brat, it was the first time I noticed my neighbours gathered on a ground-floor balcony. My curiosity drew me to the crowd. And that was the first time I noticed the black and white board and pieces. 

The exhibitionist was an older student in my school (to be honest, literally all of us would go to the same school- Kendriya Vidyalaya). He was a class ninth student. I noticed how his opponent was repeating his moves but with the opposite colour (probably, he didn't know how to play). I tried a game with him and was soundly defeated in return (as I didn't even know how the pieces move). 

As destiny is sometimes scripted, somehow my father saw me playing chess, and he was disappointed that I lost. I was the kind of student who would never bother to do homework or slog hard but always scored well. And yes, my results often surprised teachers, not without reason, as I was considered a rebel and rogue. My parents lamented that they wished I had put more effort into my studies. Anyway, they knew I was certainly intelligent.

My father surprised me with a new game set soon. He knew some moves according to the Indian chess rules. He taught me some moves, and a few I learned, on my own, from watching and playing with other kids. My first target was the exhibitionist. Being a class ninth student, he had earlier taunted me that math (Trigonometry) at his level would be incomprehensible to me. My ego was not going to let that slip. Fine, I may be too young to understand Trigonometry, but chess was a relatively level playing field.

Only after a few days of practice, I was able to draw a game with him. But, more importantly, in the following game, I was able to defeat him. I wanted to leap in the air with joy, but there was a hindrance. Unlike me, that moron took the defeat with ease. That just soured the taste of my victory. Anyway, I was always competitive. And, it was my competitive spirit that pushed me to conquer new competitors.          

The next challenge in my conquest was my father. Playing chess was a way for my father to relax after his office hours. Initially, I found it tough to beat him. To find a way to defeat him, I started fascinating chess positions, even in my dream. In my dreams, I noticed an opening position in which as White (all white moves), I played e4, d4, placed the bishops at e3 and d3, and knights at e2 and d2. The next day I played the same moves in the game with him. Surprisingly, I won, and from that moment onwards, he could never catch up.

My victory over my father led to unintended consequences. Now, he took it as a challenge to defeat me, but it wasn't easy. So we kept playing until he won at least one game. That means playing a minimum of 20+ games daily. The time needed to play all those games meant it was overlapping with my soccer time. I was crazy for soccer and would often concede a game deliberately to run to the field.

As a kid, I used to get pretty excited about summer vacations. During the vacation, we used to visit our native place. All my relatives and childhood friends were there. But unbeknownst to me, my nemesis was also waiting there to belittle me. He was, in fact, a distant relative and neighbour. He used to participate in local and district-level competitions. Though he was around my grandfather's age, his kid was of my age. I was better than his kid in nearly all fields, including education and martial arts. So, he made it his mission to thrash me over the board. After every victory, he taunted and belittled me. On top of that, he even cheated (played a move and after seeing my response, changed it forcibly). 

I went back to rejoin school but did not forget the humiliation. From that time onwards, I played with everyone (that meant mostly grown-up men in my father's circle) and improved continuously. Apart from that, I did not have any resources. Forget the internet, I never got any coach or even a book. Anyway, after one year, I went back to my native in my next vacation. The tables were turned on the wretched soul this time. The first game was a draw (that he secured by cheating). I triumphed over him in the second and third games. The coward from that moment onward never mustered the guts to play another game with me. The best part was that I defeated him in front of his entire family and walked out of their premises as a king. 

A little while after that, I quit chess due to a lack of challenge. Also, I was fed up with my father forcing me to play with him. Though he was a big guy (even by Army standards), I was always my own man. 

I returned to chess after 35. My business had sunk, and I was battling depression. I met a chess player who was a representative of the Indian Postal Service. He used to live close to my house. He wanted some practice, and I badly needed some distraction. Though he had 10 years on me (in terms of age), he was still quite active. Our morning schedule was to cycle for more than five kilometres, swim in the Ganges (Hooghly) and play several chess games.

He was the first one who posed some serious challenges to me. He was a seasoned player who devoured chess books. He was also a regular participant and prize winner in various chess competitions. He traumatized me with Scillian and English (though at that time, I was not even aware of these openings). My score against him was roughly 2:1 in his favour. 

Unbeknownst to me, I had the resources to beat him. I had a PC with the internet, and all of a sudden, I stumbled upon a chess video. I started conducting my research on the net. I created profiles on multiple chess sites, learned openings and motifs, and improved my endgames. 

Soon, my score started improving against him. And finally, I managed to secure a tiny lead. Though to be honest, he still stayed a tough opponent to beat. He nudged me to participate in competitions. I first participated in an open competition in Bengal, where I only managed to secure five wins out of the stipulated nine rounds. Later, I also participated in Odisha and managed to secure a prize there.

After a while, I had to migrate to Mumbai to secure a livelihood. And, I started working as an Editor. However, by now, I had become a chess addict. I could not sleep without playing chess. It was during Covid that I saw a couple of job postings for a chess trainer position. Though I applied for the jobs, I didn't take it seriously. I thought that those would be either part-time or freelance positions. However, fate had something else planned for me. I was hired by UpStep Academy (the World's no. 1 Online Chess Academy), and since then, I am a trainer there.