From a boy to manhood

Chess matches may be won or lost on one major error, and it therefore becomes second nature for players to carefully plan and precisely calculate every single move both on and off the chess field. He may have done enough preparation for the AAI Grandmasters Tournament but Parimarjan Negi could not have planned for or anticipated what happened on Tuesday. Though he showed much maturity and resilience, he lost a seven-hour long battle against Italian Grandmaster and tournament leader Caruana Fabiano in 98 moves.

“You may practice a variety of moves but what happens in a match is completely different and one has to deal with it at the spur of the moment,” he says.

This loss is his fourth out of six matches in this tournament after he already went down to Viktor Laznicka, Krishnan Sasikiran and to Caruana for the second time. The defeat at the hands of Sasikiran in the fifth round hurt the most. “The mistake I made against Sasikiran was elementary, even the kids attending a coaching camp here would have been able to spot it. But with time you learn to sulk less about the losses and start focusing on the game ahead,” Parimarjan said about a dubious 29th queen move that cost him a crucial fifth round match.

And at 18 years of age, Parimarjan is not just coping with the decisions he makes with the chess board in front of him, but those off it as well. “Earlier I used to decide the tournaments he played. We also bought books for him. Now he makes all these decisions himself,” said his father JBS Negi. Some of Parimarjan’s new decisions find opposition from close quarters but he is willing to stick to his choices. “My mother wanted me to start college this year. She asked me to join college and go there just for exams while focusing on chess. I was not in favor of the idea as I wanted to experience college as a regular student and not just for a degree. Moreover, it doesn’t matter whether I graduate at 22 or 23 a lot of student drop a year for other preparations. For now I am focusing on chess,” he reasons.

He has chosen to stay at the tournament venue instead of his house in order to focus on the matches. “At house there are too many distractions and in between tournaments I need to be in another zone.” While parents understand the decision it’s more difficult for his younger brother Khagolim who wants to spend the night chit chatting with his brother.

The family has to adapt to the demands of the game unquestioningly. They support his quiet and introvert lifestyle. The only time we have celebrated his victory was when he became a Grandmaster,” his mother Paridhi Negi says.

Not all decisions Parimarjan makes find favour with his parents. “I asked him to get rid of the rugged look he has been sporting as it doesn’t look proper,” his father said but he persists. Still, the Negi family is willing to give him time to grow - both his beard and his personality.