It’s not easy to be Nihal Sarin. He was among the superstars of the new generation of Indian players, who have taken the chess world by storm over the last two years. Part of the 2022 bronze-winning Olympiad team with D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa, he was the third-youngest in the world to cross the 2600 Elo rating mark in 2018, when he was just 14.
Make no mistake. To turn 21 in July, Nihal is going strong. His rating will improve from 2687 following his triumph in the recent Tashkent Open and take him close to his personal best of 2698, achieved in March last year. But he has been superseded in the wave made by Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh Chithambaram and others. Indians occupy the third, fourth and seventh places in world rankings. There are three more in the top 25. Nihal appears distant at 40th, although it’s still a creditable position to be in.
“Obviously, it’s not a great feeling. But also, they did extremely well,” Nihal told RevSportz from his residence in Thrissur in Kerala. “I’m genuinely happy for them. They’re playing insanely good chess and working extremely hard. They’re playing such amazing chess and producing so constantly. I’m trying to take inspiration from that and just be free. Because, at the end of the day, it’s not a competition. Everyone has their own pattern of growth.”
Nihal doesn’t want to get distracted by unwanted thoughts. “I’m just trying to do what I can and keep working, keep having fun. Of course, it’s a great feeling (to see contemporaries doing so well). And also, it gives you the feeling that, like, I was as good as them as well. So if they can do it, why shouldn’t I be able to do it as well,” said the player known as ‘Speed Demon’ for his prowess in the shorter formats. He was the player of the tournament at the star-studded Global Chess League played in the rapid format in London last October.
The problem for a player like Nihal is his rating doesn’t get him frequent invitations to closed tournaments in the classical format featuring top players. That’s a big drawback. Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa made rapid strides after they became regulars at the elite events because of their world rankings and ratings. Nihal has to take the road travelled by Erigaisi, who made phenomenal progress despite playing mostly in open events.
“I wouldn’t exactly say I’ve suffered a dip as such. But in general, it’s definitely had some ups and downs,” assessed Nihal. “In open tournaments, it’s not easy to get the rating up so much because the general level of chess has gone up. Winning against a lower rated player used to be a lot easier back in the day. Now, everyone is really good. What Arjun has done is exceptional. He basically went almost all the way to 2800 just by playing opens. That’s much harder than increasing (your rating) in close tournaments.”
Nihal’s Tashkent triumph has come at the right time. It was not an elite event, but open tournaments are not meant to be of that level. The field of 150 players had eight rated above 2600 and there were none above 2700. Nihal was the top seed and performed like one, by winning all five of his games with White. With Black, he drew four and won one, to finish unbeaten with a score of eight out of 10 points. Heading into the ninth and penultimate round, there was a four-way tie and Nihal beat Tin Jingyao of Singapore, a player rated close to 2600, to take sole lead. In the last round, he drew with second seed Vokhidov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan with Black. Those were big results under the pressure to win the title.
“It feels great, of course,” said Nihal, whose last title win was also in Tashkent, in a stronger open event than the recent one, last October. “It’s a great feeling to play well in any tournament, let alone win it. Winning a tournament, there are not many things that top the feeling as a sportsperson. I was just trying to play as freely as possible, trying to enjoy the game and not care about the result. Fortunately, that paid off.”
Nihal will get closer to the 2700 mark after this and chances of getting invited to closed tournaments will increase. At the moment, he is getting ready for another open event in Menorca in Spain, followed by the Asian Continental meet and the Sharjah Open.
“I’m trying my best to not care about 2700 at all,” said Nihal.“It’s just a number and it doesn’t really mean so much at all. I’m starting to realise that a bit more. If you play well, results should come. Thinking about the rating or 2700 will weigh you down. It motivates some people. For me, it’s just a burden. It’s better not to think about it. But of course, the invitations and everything is (a plus), but again, if you keep playing well, it should come when the time comes.”
The next few months will be exciting for Indian chess. While Gukesh & Co. will take on the best, Nihal will take the more arduous path to get there. He needed a spark and in the last few months, he has quietly made his mark by winning what was there for him to win. As he said, players follow different ‘patterns of growth’.
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