It was a memorable debut as a coach for B. Adhiban at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in Bengaluru last month. He guided Ganges Grandmasters to a maiden title in the world’s most glamorous chess league. Nicknamed ‘The Beast’, he was a part of the Indian teams that won the bronze medal at the Chess Olympiads in 2014 and 2022. Excerpts from an interview Adhiban gave The Hindu:

What made you accept the offer to coach Ganges Grandmasters at such short notice?

Manu Gurtu of MGD1 is my manager, and I know the company’s Sreekar Channapragada, too. They took over ownership of Ganges Grandmasters and when they offered me the job, I thought it would be interesting. My only condition was that it shouldn’t clash with my playing schedule.

I joined the team on the eve of the auction. There was one player Manu wanted: Levon Aronian. I also wanted him. Apparently, other teams, too. I was happy that we got him; he is an excellent team player. He can lift the team when it is down.

His sense of humour helps, too…

Yes. And I have liked him as a player for a long time, since the time he won the World junior championship. Another player we really wanted in our team was Nihal Sarin. I am also glad that we got Ian [Nepomniachtchi]. He is a fantastic player. And he gave us that crucial win in the final against Magnus Carlsen [APL Alpine Pipers].

The two women in your team, Polina Shuvalova and Stavroula Tsolakidou, did a great job. Aronian called them your secret weapon and said he didn’t expect them to do so well.

Manu wanted to retain both of them. They had played well last year. Polina, I knew personally that she was a very fast player.

She was brilliant here. She made probably the biggest contribution, overall, to your team…

Yeah, exactly. Because she gave us a very good start, actually. And even when the team was not doing well, she was doing well. Yes, she was someone whom you could always count on. She plays fearlessly; she is not afraid of anyone. In fact, I was expecting that she would win the Player-of-the-Tournament award.

Which went to Stavroula. She thanked you in public, and even handed her Player-of-the-Match award to you on the stage…

That was very touching. Polina already had her own set of ideas. But I did work with Stavi quite a lot, especially in opening preparations. She is an excellent student with an amazing memory.

Whatever I suggested during the training, she would replicate on the board. The openings she played here were mostly new for her. We were just improvising during the tournament. We were preparing together every day for at least an hour and a half.

Were there games that went according to the plan more or less?

Well, there was this game with Koneru Humpy in the match against Alpine Pipers. The opening went according to our plan. In the final, against Nino [Batsiashvili] too, it was my idea that she implemented over the board.

And Batsiashvili has been mighty good at the GCL.

Yes. I wanted Stavi to beat her, so that she could prove she could beat everyone.

So you must be pleased that you could play a role in the progress of a player.

Yes, because this is what coaching is all about, right?

And this was your first proper stint as a coach, though you worked with R. Vaishali before she played in the Candidates, which she went on to win, much against the odds.

Yes, I could say that my only student is contesting the World championship match.

How do you view Vaishali’s chances in that World title match against Ju Wenjun?

She didn’t have a good Olympiad at Samarkand. I don’t really know what happened. I will talk to her when she comes back. As for the World championship, if there is one player who could beat Ju Wenjun, I think it is Vaishali.

She should play freely, and not worry too much about the result: she shouldn’t think, ‘What will happen if I don’t win’. There aren’t too many players like Vaishali at the top level in women’s chess, the players who could challenge men, like Judit Polgar or Hou Yifan. Whenever I play against Vaishali, I feel I have to be a bit careful. I don’t get that feeling when I meet other female players.

She plays aggressively and fearlessly. She is a bit like Judit in that regard, and rather unlike Hou Yifan. Among the Chinese women, Lei Tingjie, I feel, is the most aggressive player.

Vaishali has to be cautious against Ju Wenjun. She is difficult to beat and not someone who will collapse. I remember the way she [Ju] beat Vidit Gujrathi, someone who resembles her in style. If you can beat a strong player who is very close to your style, it means something.

Talking of World championships, your thoughts on the match between D. Gukesh and Javokhir Sindarov? Not many people are betting on the reigning World champion as he hasn’t been in good form after winning the title in 2024.

Well, I believe Gukesh has excellent chances. The way he played at the Olympiad [where he won a silver on the fourth board] should help his confidence.

I think the thing is, he should not try to go back to who he was [when he was doing incredible things like winning gold on the top board in successive Olympiads]. He should just find a new version of himself. He has changed a lot and now so many things are different. He has to rediscover himself.

Gukesh is someone who has risen above the expectations. Whatever hurdle you throw at him, he will cross that. A few years back, me and Anish [Giri] had this running joke. When Gukesh was doing so well in classical chess, we would say, ‘Okay at least he is bad at rapid chess’. Then he ended up winning some rapid games somewhere. Anish and I now said, ‘At least he is still bad at blitz’. Then he won against [Vladimir] Kramnik in Armageddon. Then, after crossing 2700 [Elo points], he came below that. Now we said, ‘Maybe he is not 2700 level yet’. Then he comes to the Olympiad and destroys everyone. The moment you think he is done or he is not ready for something, he always proves himself.

Sindarov has been in great form. But when it comes to the peaks of their chess, I feel Gukesh is better than Sindarov. I may be biased, but my favourite for the World title this year is Gukesh.

Harshavardhan… better late than never
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement