Dhruv Dilip: Little chess champion ready to make the right move

Dhruv Dilip, age 7. Dhruv recently won the Karnataka State Under-7 Chess Championship organized by Chikballapur District Chess Association along with Panchjanya Chess Academy.

Now, Dhruv is all set to compete in the U-7 National Championships to be held in Udaipur from July 15 to 20. The pictures tell us that they can appreciate DPS, Electronic City, Student Bus and more.

Sometimes, successes come unexpectedly and their origin is in a simple turn of events. Dhruv was thrown into chess a few years ago when the Kovid epidemic and lockdown spread across the country.

Like thousands of other children, Dhruv was confined to the house and the child was likely to wake up to the inner geek. Online classes, increased TV hours, etc. can also have an effect.

But here the parents – Deepa, a book editor and Dilip, a C-DOT employee – found an alternative – introduced Dhruv to chess. What started as a hobby, the diversion strategy soon turned into a complete passion.

Dhruv clashes with notable chess coach Sushruta Reddy and learns the intricacies of this complex game. “Sometimes you don’t understand the moves, but Dhruv finds the moves very simple and instantaneous and they are very well calculated,” says Deepa.

“It started as a hobby during the lockdown and we can’t believe it worked so well. But, now we have confidence and Dhruv, who also plays badminton, wants to continue in chess, hopefully, we can take him to FIDE competitions and see how he performs there, “she says.

Dhruv also demonstrates his skills in the online platform Lychees but parents face the challenge of balancing time between games and studies. “I think Dhruv has fixed it a lot because his practice has improved since he entered chess, especially in subjects like mathematics. I try to show him YouTube videos of different chess players and tricks so that he keeps improving. Currently, he is watching videos of the late Mikhail Tal, Russian GM.

Currently, Dhruv is undergoing training from female Grandmaster Aarti Ramaswamy and parents hope he will take it to the next level.

Dhruv’s date of birth – April 13 – coincides with that of Russian veteran GM Gary Kasparov. Chess is about numbers. So does this number ring the bell?