Motivation to take up a sport can vary. For Daniel Dardha — who saw his father and grandfather discussing chess positions at home — it was an annoyance. When he started learning from his father, his father’s students would make short work of him. He was seven or eight years old. The determination to beat them back drew him to chess. Today, he is Belgium’s all-time best and a highly talked-about youngster.
His talent has earned him a place in the Global Chess League, where he will have one of the best seats one can imagine. The Alpine SG Pipers sextet that Dardha is a part of includes Magnus Carlsen of Norway and China’s Hou Yifan. The jackpot for the player turning 19 on October 1 is that in his first foray into this high-profile event, he finds himself on the same team as the men’s and women’s World No. 1s.
“I feel very fortunate and happy,” Dardha told RevSportz in a conversation about the GCL. “I looked at the other teams, and they are all very strong. But yeah, I am very happy to be in this team. I have a lot to learn. I’ll try to keep cool and play the best I can,” said the player, who will also have R Praggnanandhaa of India as a teammate.
“It’s a great event for young players because we get a lot of support from the Global Chess League. This is an amazing opportunity. I don’t think there is another tournament where a youngster like me gets the chance to play alongside players like Magnus,” said Dardha, who is in the mix as a junior player, a mandatory requirement for every team.
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Carlsen is no stranger to the teenager. In an unofficial online event called Titled Tuesday, Dardha beat the Norwegian twice. But he refuses to see it as a major achievement. “Of course, it doesn’t mean much because it was just a blitz game played over the computer. But it was a confidence booster. You don’t know how people see this, but I still won against him, even if it was in a random blitz game.”
Dardha said he likes rapid (the GCL format) because “the faster the time control, the more I enjoy it.” Unlike some players, he believes that preparation for rapid can differ from preparation for classical games. “A lot of changes can be made. Many openings considered dubious can have a very strong effect in rapid, especially in this time control. You can go for a risky approach, but your opponent has to waste a lot of time finding the correct moves.”
From a career-high of 2650 in May 2024, Dardha’s Elo rating has dipped to 2603. His immediate target is to address this. “My ambition is to work very hard and cross the 2700 mark in the short run, and then try to reach somewhere near the top of the world,” said the player, who refused to pick a clear favourite in the World Championship final between D Gukesh and Ding Liren, though he noted that the Indian appears to have an edge.
Also Read: “Gukesh is a massive favourite to win the World Championship”: Praggnanandhaa