Chess draws her entirely into the game, and while playing, her primary concern is how she can strategically tackle the moves and not hand the game over to her opponent. She often finds herself contemplating various tactics besides visualizing the results of each decision she makes while being involved in the game. Our young achiever of the day is an 11 year old, Stuti Pradeep from Ekya Schools. A student of class 6, Stuti participated in Karnataka State Women's Chess championship and ranked third among 107 participants.
The Telegraph Online Edugraph spoke to Stuti about what fascinates her towards the gameplay and she said, “I started formal chess coaching at the age of 8. Till then I used to play chess at home with my grandfather. What fascinates me the most about chess are the problem solving attitude and ability to think spontaneously under pressure to outsmart the opponent. A player's success also depends on far ahead into the game one can calculate the moves which improves your analytical skills and positional awareness. Chess has improved my focus and patience levels. Playing chess for the last 4 years has greatly benefited my academics as well”.
She strongly feels Chess helps her become more creative as an individual as it allows her to anticipate the results of every move she makes. It takes both action and reaction to win at chess. One needs to be able to anticipate what movements their opponent will make in the future for effectively encountering them. “It is a mix of hard work and some sacrifices. Post school time and a small break, I manage to finish up my school homework and assignments first and then plan for the chess activities. My coach has helped me to build a daily calendar on the different aspects of the game I need to spend time on like playing tactics/puzzles, study openings and endgame theories, prepare variations and as well as spend time playing chess online against random opponents. On an average I spend about 3-4 hours of chess time on weekdays and around 6 hours on weekends. This means sacrificing play time outside as well as cut down screen time on mobile/TV. I have some cheat days where I take a break from Chess and do other activities.” added Stuti.
Focused towards her future and on both academic and creative sides, our young achiever follows a drafted plan to work and excel at both. “Considering that a tournament usually lasts 3-5 days means I have to take a break from school. On an average I play 2 tournaments in a month which means some amount of time away from school. To play outside Karnataka would add up additional holidays for travel, so I prefer tournaments within Bangalore. However, the type of tournaments and the players who register matter more than the place. A tournament with a lot of higher rated players and a good prize money is better as the competition is good. I like to play against higher rated players and in classical format. This helps in improving my chess as well as a lot of happiness and confidence boost when I win against them. State women's championships are held every year across the states of India for women of all age categories. This is not an age category tournament and hence opponents for every round of the tournament can be of any age. I also participated in the Karnataka Open Chess Championship and came 3rd best in the Bangalore Urban U19 Women category. Later this year I will be participating in the U13 and U15 State and National Championships. I want to take chess as a profession and achieve greater heights. My dream is to be the World Number 1 in FIDE rankings!. From an academic perspective, teaching inspires me.” stated Stuti.
The Telegraph Online Edugraph congratulates Stuti on her win and wishes her the very best for her future endeavors.