Nihal Sarin, India’s teen who took on world chess champion Magnus Carlsen

Last updated on February 14th, 2023 at 11:11 am

Nihal Sarin has played against the reigning champion Magnus Carlsen on various occasions however on 5 June Nihal took on Carlsen in a series of one-minute chess shootouts. Toward the end of these “quick games”, the score read: Sarin 13, Carlsen 19. A few days earlier, India’s teen Sarin had defeated Norwegian Carlsen in a blitz game, where every player got three minutes to decide their moves. 

In a Blitz match, the very first time, the prevailing Asian Continental Blitz Champion beat the ruling World no.1 and Triple Crown World Champion. With no geographical barriers, young people like him can take on top GMs by simply signing on and drifting a go head to head challenge requests. 

The most recent shootout with Carlsen occurred on Lichess, an open-source chess website by a non-benefit and controlled by volunteers. 

Sarin made his initial strides started by taking on anybody he could spot on the chess forum and built up an altogether different preparation technique when contrasted with older training methods. Sarin goes on the web and plays against many players to improve his game, rather than sitting with a coach and analyzing his moves. 

Sarin today could well be labeled as Indian chess’ T20 pro. Carlsen has stated that Sarin is an extraordinary blitz player around”. What’s more, the Chess.com has placed him at No.3 in bullet chess after 15,431 games. 

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Everywhere competitions have either been dropped or deferred due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Chess is one such game that can continue to be played online. On account of different online platforms, players from around the globe can play against their top picks at the championship. 

Blitz and Bullet chess games have grown to become the favorite game amid fans and players during the Covid-19 lockdown. FIDE, the game’s overseeing body, is yet to award ratings for online chess however it is gaining mass interest.

Article Credit: The Indian Express/Chess base/News 18