NEW DELHI: Not way back, Nagpur-born Divya Deshmukh shocked the chess world together with her sensational triumph on the Girls’s World Cup. Having entered as an Worldwide Grasp (IM), the 19-year-old outlasted everybody she confronted, and as she lifted the champion’s crown, she additionally secured the coveted Grandmaster (GM) title in a single go.Often, the trail to the GM title calls for years of grind: three GM norms, numerous tournaments, and a FIDE score of 2500. However sure continental and world occasions, recognised by FIDE, can grant the title immediately. And Divya’s case in Batumi was a uncommon occasion of that.

Final week, 22-year-old Raahul VS from Chennai walked that very same path. Within the Philippines, he clinched the sixth ASEAN Particular person Open Chess Championship with a spherical to spare, and with it, turned India’s 91st GM.“I didn’t see the consequence myself as a result of it was nonetheless not uploaded,” Raahul advised TimesofIndia.com from Malaysia, the place he’s competing within the Commonwealth Chess Championship. “My roommate known as me and knowledgeable me, ‘You simply turned a GM.’ And I didn’t imagine it for 20 minutes as a result of I used to be so anxious. I requested him to recheck 5 occasions in regards to the consequence, whether or not I’m turning into a GM or not. It’s really fairly particular as a result of incomes a direct title like this isn’t a quite common factor.”Absolutely, it isn’t. Particularly for somebody who had been chasing it for years.

A GM dream lengthy delayed

“I used to be fairly stunned as a result of I already had one GM norm beforehand, however I used to be struggling to make my different two norms,” Raahul recalled.“I missed no less than three to 4 occasions this yr. So I hoped, okay, it is a superb alternative for me. I selected this match as a result of clearly if I win, I change into a Grandmaster, however on the identical time, I didn’t daydream lots about it.”

Raahul’s first GM norm got here again in December 2021, when he gained the Asian Junior Championship in Sri Lanka at a time when the chess world was simply recovering from the tremors of the pandemic.

From a hyperactive baby to the nation’s pleasure

Chess entered Raahul’s life not out of ambition, however out of his mother and father’ mild try to show their stressed son the artwork of sitting nonetheless.“I began chess once I was round six years previous. It was not as a result of I used to be keen on chess: I used to be a really hyperactive child, and my mother and father couldn’t maintain me in a single spot. In order that they stated, ‘Okay, you’re going to a chess academy. You’ll study to sit down in a single place for greater than 5 minutes’,” he laughed.“They principally compelled me to hitch. However the sport appeared attention-grabbing as a result of despite the fact that we’re sitting, there are such a lot of issues occurring. And I started to take an curiosity in it and spent hours enjoying.”Raahul’s father Vijayakumar runs a small building firm and works as a marketing consultant, whereas his mom Sharmila, a former instructor, is now a homemaker, dedicating her time to caring for Raahul and his sister Darshini in a humble Chennai family.

However behind that humble life-style lay the quiet burden of economic wrestle.“Till the final two or three years, my household was not very sound financially,” he revealed.“Chess is, normally, a really costly sport. Due to that, we had quite a lot of monetary troubles. I additionally began teaching on the facet as a result of I needed to assemble cash for my tournaments as a substitute of at all times counting on my mother and father.”Presently, Raahul is within the remaining yr of his MBA at SRM College. “My college has been actually useful,” he stated. “They let me play tournaments; attendance shouldn’t be an issue for me. MBA has been fairly tough in comparison with my undergrad, however to this point I’ve been capable of do nicely in my exams and provides time to chess too.”

Combating ‘unfavourable ideas’ for a very long time

Moreover the monetary troubles, psychological struggles, he admits, had been among the many greatest hurdles in his journey.“After I was younger, I obtained my first IM norm on the age of 14,” Raahul recalled. “At the moment, I had simply hit puberty, and I began getting quite a lot of unfavourable feelings. If I misplaced a sport, I’d get very depressed and couldn’t be constructive about myself. I’ve been coping with it for a very long time as a result of in chess, you’ve got so many feelings occurring.“Even once I turned an IM, I wasn’t doing nicely mentally as a result of I had my ups and downs. However significantly in 2025, I began focusing extra on my mentality, attempting to actively enhance my psychological focus. That’s the key factor I’ve overcome until now.”

Addressing the weaknesses

Raahul’s present coach GM Shyam Sundar M has identified the chess prodigy since his teenage years. However even expertise, as Shyam identified, wanted tempering.“A significant weak spot of Raahul’s is that he typically performs very quick, and the standard of his strikes isn’t at all times excessive,” Shyam advised this web site, recalling numerous discussions about controlling the clock.“Whenever you play shortly, you may’t look forward to finding the very best strikes each time, however in his case, the pace tended to be extra of a disadvantage than a bonus. I’ve advised him to decelerate a bit; typically he loses video games in simply an hour.”

What anxious the coach extra, nonetheless, had been the one-move blunders that crept in at essential moments.“He can play good chess for 4 hours after which make a single easy blunder. It is going to smash all that onerous work,” Shyam admitted. “So I saved emphasising two issues: decelerate when wanted, and at all times examine for easy blunders earlier than you press the clock.”

The street forward

Raahul, who educated underneath RB Ramesh from the age of 9 to 19 and shared the board with prodigies like Vaishali, Praggnanandhaa, and Aravindh Chithambaram, is aware of that turning into a GM is only one milestone.

“In the mean time, I don’t actually have any plan,” he admitted with a smile. “Airports Authority of India has been sponsoring me on a yearly foundation, however other than that, I don’t have any monetary assist aside from my teaching or prize cash. Even on this championship, I needed to pay my very own manner. I hope I get a sponsor sooner or later so it turns into simpler.” ALSO READ: Making of India’s 90th GM Ilamparthi AR: Travelling alone at 16, MS Dhoni-esque hands, ailing brother at home