One of India's most glamorous sports personalities as well as a chess wizard, Tania Sachdev has shared what the young generation really needs to do to prosper in the board game. The 30-year-old Delhi girl won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Chess Championship 2017, held in the national capital this month.
Tania holds every possible accolade the world of the small board game can offer. She is an Arjuna Award winner and also the winner of International Master and Woman Grandmaster titles.
She is one of those very few well-known chess wizards who have kept alive the rich heritage of the sport in India. It was here itself that chess started out as 'chaturanga' in early as the 5th century.
Vishwanathan Anand is undoubtedly the greatest talent India has produced in the game of chess.
New age stars like Tania, Atanu Lahiri and Abhijeet Gupta are taking forward the rich legacy of the game in the country.
"Whether you take it up professionally or as a hobby it's a great game to develop cognitive skills and is a total exercise of the mind. So give a little time to chess regularly, learn the game and the skills it develops will help you in whatever you decide to do." mentioned Tania, who won the Arjuna Award in 2009.
Offering the mantras of success on the occasion of International Chess Day 2017, Tania is looking ahead to witnessing more individuals coming to the fore and making the country prouder in the game.
Top 5 tips by Tania Sachdev:
- 1. Work on your openings. It is hard but in today's times, you cannot escape the opening preparation. I suggest analysing at home and having big files that you look at and update every now and then.
For that quick brush up before the game, have a second set of short and easy-to-remember prep files on your computer.
- 2. Spend some time everyday solving a couple of combinations. It keeps the brain working and improves tactical vision.
- 3. Follow all the top tournament games. This is very important and all professional chess players do it every single day. They only rely on guessing work and do not make use of an analysing engine.
- 4. Study a good chess book. These days I am reading 'Positional Decision Making' by Gelfand. It is brilliant. There are so many great chess books. So much to learn!
- 5. Play tournaments and analyse your games. If done regularly, this will rapidly improve your game. Also, play blitz! Cause sometimes you just want to have fun.
(Added inputs from a press release)
