NEW DELHI: The year was 2022. The Tamil Nadu Chess Association had organised a camp in Pollachi for the state’s strongest junior players, those who had qualified for the junior nationals. Ilamparthi, then only 13, wasn’t one of them. Yet, clutching his grandfather’s hand, he showed up anyway.“He came with his grandfather just to meet me,” recalls Grandmaster (GM) Shyam Sundar Mohanraj, one of India’s most respected chess coaches, speaking to TimesofIndia.com. “He was very shy, spoke in a respectful slang as they speak in that Pollachi-Coimbatore area.”
Recognising the spark of genius within him, Shyam decided to make the youngster his protege. Three years later, he is now India’s 90th Grandmaster.What’s in the name?The name, Ilamparthi, has a meaning that almost predicts his journey. “It’s a cute Tamil name,” his father, Ravikumar, a 47-year-old software engineer, tells TimesofIndia.com. “’Ilam’ means young and ‘Parthi’ means sun. Together, it means the early morning sun.”Like any traditional Chennai family, though Ravikumar knew chess, it was Ilamparthi’s mother, P Gayathri, a science teacher, who first introduced him to the board.“She taught him to set up the pieces,” Ravikumar recounts. “Then I taught him the rules and regulations, and he understood quickly.”By the time the 2009-born prodigy was five, he was already competing on the national circuit.“In 2014, he played the Under-5 Nationals in Delhi and won the title,” says his father. “After that came the Under-7 crown and gold at the Asian Championship. That’s when we realised he had something special.”Hardships behind the scenes
Ilamparthi AR with his coach GM Shyam Sundar. (Photo by Special Arrangement)
Behind the medals, the family has continued to fight several quiet battles.“Chess is not like other sports,” says Ravikumar. “You travel a lot for each tournament, and a tournament runs for many days, and you spend a lot on travel, food and stay. It adds up fast.”As Ilamparthi improved, the expenses got bigger.“Once he reached a higher rating, he had to go abroad,” admits the father. “Playing tournaments only in India would not help him improve. Each international trip costs three to four lakh rupees.”Some relief came through scholarships and CSR funding, but not enough. “Sponsors are very hard to find in chess,” he states.At home, Ravikumar’s younger son, now 12, is a special child with epilepsy. “He cannot speak, walk or anything,” says Ravikumar. “So, we have to do everything for him. At one point, I could not travel with Ilam anymore… From early 2025, he started travelling alone. It has been the same for the last seven, eight months.”An obedient one
Ilamparthi AR involved in intense training at a chess academy. (Photo by Special Arrangement)
Amid the mounting pressure and off-the-board worries, Ilamparthi finds solace in the hut of his chess guru.“Whenever he’s in Chennai, he’s either at my home or at the academy,” says Shyam. “He’s very hardworking and disciplined. No social media, no distractions. He doesn’t even watch movies. Once he saw a photo of me with actor Sivakarthikeyan in my academy and asked who he was. That’s how little he knows about cinema.”At Shyam’s academy, Chess Thulir, players often swap chessboards for cricket bats as they all leave their chairs and take the field, where Ilamparthi shows a touch of the former Indian skipper MS Dhoni’s trademark “blink-and-miss-it” magic behind the stumps.“When we started going for cricket, I still remember that he became too good at wicket-keeping skills,” Shyam laughs. “In a fraction of a second, he would receive the ball and hit the stumps. For our amateur level, it was just stunning.”That same quickness shows up on the board.“He loves solving puzzles,” adds the coach. “Even strong GMs take 15 or 20 minutes for a puzzle; Ilam finishes in three to five. He used to solve 20 or 30 a day. I told him to stop for a bit because it was affecting his play. He simply said, ‘Okay, sir.’ No questions asked. Later, another guy from my academy asked him if they could solve one together, and he replied, ‘Sir told me not to.’ He has this discipline.”A GM title earned with patienceFor Ilamparthy, who became an International Master (IM) in 2023, the GM title was an eventuality.“He missed it by half a point a few times,” says Shyam. “He’d get close, then lose or draw the last round. But I told him it’s okay. The title will come. GM title is nothing compared to our greater goals like becoming a world champion or maintaining that level.”Last week, Ilamparthu eventually broke the deadlock and secured the final GM norm at the Bijeljina Open held in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Coach Shyam’s words helped him stay calm. “In the tournament where he finally made it, I told him not to chase the title, just play good chess,” adds Shyam. “Once he stopped thinking about it, he played freely.”Now that the GM title is in hand, the next goal is clear.“I want to make him an all-rounder,” says Shyam. “I don’t think about money or career,” father Ravikumar adds. “If I start worrying about that, he’ll lose focus. I just want him to stay happy with chess.”The boy who once walked into a camp holding his grandfather’s hand now travels the world on his own. And this, surely, won’t be the last time you hear the name Ilamparthi, for the sun is just shining.
