Nihal Sarin - Indian Chess Grandmaster

Nihal Sarin is a Chess Grandmaster from India with Elo ratings exceeding 2600 from FIDE, making him one of the best Indian chess players of all time.

Full Name: Nihal Sarin

Title: Grandmaster (2018)

International Master (2017)

FIDE Master (2015)

Candidate Master (2014)

Place of birth: Thrissur Kerala, India

Born: July 13, 2004

Federation: India

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Ratings

World ranking: 98

Rapid: 2604

Blitz: 2705

Classical: 2651

Profiles

Biography

Nihal Sarin is India’s chess Grandmaster, born on July 13, 2004 in Thrissur Kerala, India. Nihal was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 2018, the title of International Master in 2017, FIDE Master in 2015, and the Candidate Master in 2014. As of August 2022, Sarin’s FIDE rating was 2651 while his Peak rating was 2662 as of December 2021. Sarin’s both parents are doctors (father – dermatologist and mother- psychiatrist). Sarin’s father is a dermatologist, and his mother is a psychiatrist named Shijin Ammanam Veetil Ummar. His early years were preoccupied at Kottayam. By the age of three, Nihal could identify the headquarters and national flags of 190 nations. Still, in that age bracket, Sarin had learned and memorized the genus and species names of most living organisms. Sarin’s mastered perfect English by higher preschool, and while aged six, having just begun 1st level, he understood the entire multiplication tables till 16.

The Beginning

Sarin began playing board at the young age of 6. To keep Sarin entertained throughout school holidays, he was given a chess board by his dad, and A. A. Ummar (Sarin’s grandfather) trained him in the principles at Excelsior English Education center in Kottayam. Sarin was actively coached in chess pieces by the institution of learning chess trainer Mathew P. Joseph Pottoore, who first coached every week. Sarin and his parents relocated to Thrissur in 2011, from which he attended Devamatha CMI State School. Nihal did win the 2011 Kerala state tournament in the U7 age group, the U9 age group two times, the U11 age group two times, and the U15 (middle-Junior) age group on one occasion. Just at the age of ten, Sarin finished second in the State National tournament in Irinjalakuda, making him qualified to play for Kerala in the 2015 National Challengers Tournament. When he was aged 8 and 10 years, Nihal finished second in the State U19 Junior competition. In 2013, Sarin was victorious at the National U9 Championship in Chennai, won the 2014 National U11 Bronze Medal in Puri, and the 2015 National U11 Silver Medal in Pondicherry.

In addition, in 2013, Sarin was victorious at the National U9 Championship in Chennai, won the 2014 National U11 Bronze Medal in Puri, and the 2015 National U11 Silver Medal in Pondicherry. Sarin became a gold medalist in the U10 group at the 2013 World Blitz Tournament in Al-Ain. Under the same division, Sarin became a gold medalist in the Rapid and Blitz events at the 2014 Asian Youth Tournament in Tashkent. Sarin ‘s major triumph occurred in September 2014, when he attained victory at the U10 World Youth Chess Tournament in Durban, South Africa after scoring 9 points out of 11 games to win the U10 World Championship. FIDE awarded him the Candidate Master (CM) title in recognition of this performance.

Sarin started working with Dimitri Komarov from Ukraine, an accomplished instructor with global recognition during his competitive career, in 2014. Sarin conquered his maiden title-holder opponent, Swedish International Master Jonathan Westerberg at the 2014 World Junior Tournament in Pune, India, shortly after winning the World Youth Tournament in 2014. Sarin was a frequent participant in all major championships hosted in India for a whole year, such as the National Challengers Cup in Nagpur. Sarin would frequently force crowned competitors to share points.

The following year (2015) Sarin took a silver medal in the U12 World Youth Chess Tournament in Greece as the 28th player out of 202 contestants from 73 nations. Sarin beat the leading two participants in his division in the championship’s final rounds, International Master – Awonder Liang in the seventh round and FIDE Master Nodirbek Abdusattorov ranked 2432 in the 8th round. Within the same year, Sarin passed the actual Elo rating of 2300 and was awarded the title of FIDE Master by FIDE. Sarin finished 2nd in the 2016 volume of the competition, which was contested in Batumi, Georgia, scoring 812 points out of 11 games. He finished 4th in the deciding set. Sarin represented India Green at the 2017 World Youth Chess Olympiad in December, assisting the nation to gain a silver medal. On the third board, Nihal also earned an Individual gold medal.

Sarin competed in his inaugural International Open beyond India, the famous Cappelle la Grande Open, in February 2016, and earned his maiden IM norm. Sarin defeated a GM for the initial moment in his profession in the tournament. Sarin defeated Lithuanian grandmaster Eduardas Rozentalis at the Hasselbacken Open 2016 in Stockholm at the end of April. On May 8th, 2016, the statistical site Chess-DB named this accomplishment the “Match of the moment”. Sarin earned his 2nd IM norm in the 2016 Sunway Sitges Open with a score of 5.5 points out of 9 games. His 3rd IM norm was recorded in February at the 2017 Aeroflot B Open when Nihal also earned 5.5 points of the 9 games, finishing at 2539, to surpass the 2400 level and became an International Master.

Furthermore, Sarin prevailed at the 2020 World Online Youth Tournament in the U18 division with the ultimate score line of 1.5 against 0.5 of Grandmaster Shant Sargsyan of Armenia. Sarin debuted at the 2020 TATA Steel Challengers competition in January, scoring 7 points out of 13 games to tie for 6th place. Sarin played an important role in India’s victory at the 2020 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020. Nihal debuted at the 2020 TATA Steel Challengers competition in January, scoring 7 points out of 13 games to tie for 6th place.

The Most Recent Notable Achievements

Sarin played an important role in India’s victory at the 2020 FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020.
Sarin ‘s extraordinary streak of victories extended after the 2020 Online Chess Olympiad when he earned victory at the Chess.com Junior Speed Chess Tournament.
A mere couple of weeks later, on October 25th, 2020, Nihal succeeded in winning the Capechecs Online Award.
Moreover, he contributed to India’s silver medal in the Asian Teams Online Tournament in 2020.
Sarin recorded his 3rd undefeated victory on the 10th of December 2020 when he defeated Arjun Erigaisi in the finale of the Chessbase India Super Juniors Cup.
His 4th championship victory of the year occurred when he beat Armenian Grandmaster Shant Sargsyan in the final match of the World Youth Chess Tournament in 2020, which was contested online and administered by FIDE.
Sarin triumphed in his 2nd straight championship in July 2021, the Serbia Open Masters contested in Belgrade, by scoring 7.5 points out of 9 games and attained a ranking of 2786.
Sarin earned victory at the 2021 Junior Speed Chess Tournament held by chess.com in October, defeating Raunak Sadhani with a seven-point advantage.

Did you enjoy reading about Nihal Sarin? If you did, you might be interesting in reading other player profiles such as Etienne Bacrot, Rauf Mamedov , and Rey Enigma.

Sources

Nihal Sarin – Indian Chess Grandmaster

Etienne Bacrot – French Chess Grandmaster

Gawain Jones – English Chess Grandmaster

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