In a sport often featuring teenage prodigies, Shyam Nikhil is the poster boy for patience. The Tamil Nadu chess player became an International Master (IM) at the age of 18 way back in 2010, before collecting two out of the three norms needed to become a GM within a year. By 2012, he had also crossed the threshold of 2500 rating
points necessary to become a grandmaster. He seemed destined to become India’s 28th grandmaster very soon, but fate had other plans.
It took Shyam 12 more years to attain the elite status he was seeking. This week, the now 31-year-old from Tamil Nadu earned that third norm which will make him India’s 85th grandmaster. His elevation is in stark contrast to that of Gukesh, who will challenge for the world chess championship crown later this year, was India’s youngest-ever grandmaster at the age of 12.
What makes Shyam an outlier in Indian chess is the fact that stories like that of Gukesh — of kids earning their three grandmaster norms in their early teens — are commonplace.
“It took a long time but it did finally work out. It was always there within striking distance. In these 12 years, I never felt that I won’t be able to get it. Initially, I was very confident that I would get the third norm because I have the strength. But later on, because of outside pressures and so many misses, at some point I started to feel (the desperation) that I just need to get the third norm,” a relieved Shyam tells The Indian Express from the UAE where he secured the norm at the Dubai Police Global Chess Challenge.
During this testing period, it was his parents — K Ponnuswamy, who used to work as a data entry operator in the state express transport corporation, and mother P Santhi, a homemaker — who kept him going.
“My parents are the ones who introduced me to chess and stood by me throughout, even when results were not in my favour. I want to dedicate this GM title to my parents.” Shyam says before adding: “I missed the third norm on several occasions despite coming within touching distance. Just before this event in Dubai, I played a tournament in France where I missed the third norm by half a point. At an event in 2012, I had again missed the third norm by half a point. In 2020, in the last round of an event, I needed a win against a Russian GM. I was clearly winning, before I got into time trouble and lost. That miss was the most painful. If I had won, I would have earned the GM title and finished second in the event, which would have got me a prize money of Rs 4 lakh or something. I lost and ended around the 30th position, and took home Rs 10,000.”
Another one of those near-misses came in 2014, when Shyam had everything in place to achieve the elusive third norm. The event was in India and since his first two norms had also come in India, rules dictated that he needed to earn one abroad.
Shyam Nikhil, a 31-year-old from Tamil Nadu, is now India’s 85th grandmaster. (Photo courtesy Shyam Nikhil)
When he finally got his third GM norm, many of his peers like Srinath Narayanan, who has now become a trainer, Shyam Sundar and Adhiban Baskaran sent him congratulatory texts.
“I can’t remember who among us became an IM first, but I was once the highest-rated among this group back in 2008. I was rated around 2375 back then. At some point, we were at the same level, but somewhere I lost momentum,” Shyam admits.
Prodigies like Gukesh became grandmasters so early in their careers by obsessively chasing the title in events around the world, almost living out of their suitcases. Gukesh’s father also put his own career on hold to travel with him full time. For Shyam though, financial constraints meant he rarely got to play in European events, where he says it’s easier to earn norms and rating points. What also held his quest for the third norm back was the fact that he was an up-and-coming player based out of Nagercoil in an era when chess engines and the internet were still to make their presence felt completely.
“To play in Europe, you also needed to show bank statements and we didn’t have that back then. I got to travel abroad regularly only from 2017 after joining the ICF, Railways,” he says.
Shyam admits that over the years, the third norm was not always at the forefront of his mind.
“The primary focus at some point was just to improve my rating, because you have to maintain a good rating to make the cut for the Railways team at the Nationals. Only the top 10 players (top 7 by rating and top 3 finishers in the inter-railway competitions) get to play in the Railways team. If you’re in the Railways team, you get extra leave for practice,” says Shyam, who joined under the sports quota as a junior clerk and has since risen to become an office superintendent.
Now that the long-awaited goal is finally achieved, what’s the next target for him?
“One is to improve my rating. But I definitely want to improve the quality of my chess,” he says before adding with a grin, “I want to play games that are remembered.”
