Puducherry boy bags gold medal at Commonwealth Chess event

Nine-year-old Rahul Ramakrishnan from Puducherry wins gold at Commonwealth Chess Championship, aiming to become a Grand Master by 2026.

Nine-and-a-half-year-old Rahul Ramakrishnan, who recently brought laurels to Puducherry by winning a gold medal in the under 10 category Commonwealth Chess Championship held at Malaysia, was initiated into the world of chess at the age of four.

A Class 4 student at Petit Seminaire CBSE School, Rahul got initiated into the world of chess after seeing his elder sister, Shruti Ramakrishnan, move wooden pieces of king, rook and queen around on a chess board at home.

Shruti quit the game to concentrate on academics but Rahul picked it up for the family. After getting his first National medal in 2022, Rahul participated in the under-9 National Chess Championship where he secured a silver medal. This year, he announced his arrival at the international chess arena with a stunning performance at Commonwealth Chess event held from February 19 to 27 at Melaka in Malaysia.

“His best performance was in the Commonwealth Games. There were 303 players representing various nations and Rahul represented our country in the under 10 category. He was unbeaten in all the nine rounds and clinched the gold medal with a round to spare,” said Ramakrishnan, his father.

After analysing his performance, Rahul has now decided to raise the bar. “My short term goal is to become an international master by this year and become a Grand Master by 2026. The recent game has given me lots of confidence and I wanted to become a world champion. My role models are Viswanathan Anand and Russian player Mikhail Botvinnik,” Rahul told The Hindu.

Rahul is grateful to his coach Swaraj Palit. “I have started preparations for my next big game as I am representing the country at the Asian Youth and World Youth Chess championships this year,” he added.

Rahul’s father said the biggest challenge is meeting the academic expectation and excelling in the game. “He is also good in studies and we are a middle class family. Other State players are practising the game full time as they have either family support or government support. Giving him the technical support is the only worry as it is expensive. My son is very confident after his performance at Commonwealth Games and deserves to be encouraged,” he added.