'I want to become a WGM in the next three years'

RAKESH RAO

BELITTLED by too many for too long, Tania Sachdev has finally come of age.

From claiming five titles in the British chess championship in 1994 to finishing second best in the women's National 'B' at Vizag this August, Tania has indeed come a long way.

Belonging to a prosperous business family of New Delhi, Tania was, for long, ridiculed for being 'over-rated' and considered as one who did not have it in her to make it big. But over a period of time, she has proved these cynics wrong. More so, after a series of consistent performances in the recent past.

This 15-year-old, who had won the Asian under-14 title last year in Teheran, was third among the female competitors in the gruelling men's National 'B' at Nagpur. She put behind a poor start to notch eight points out of 13 rounds and was next only to Swati Ghate and S. Vijayalakshmi.

Within 48 hours of that energy-sapping competition, Tania was on her way to the Asian girls (under-20) championship in the Iranian capital and went on to justify her third seeding.

Having played 13 rounds at Nagpur and another 11 in Teheran, Tania was obviously very tired when she reached Vizag for the women's National 'B'. But armed with her best showing in any Continental championship, Tania drew from her reserves to come up with a stupendous runner-up finish behind Bhagyashree Thipsay, and qualified for her first National 'A' in style.

"I was thoroughly exhausted before I started playing the (women's) National 'B'. I didn't feel like going out there and fighting it out. Somehow, I managed to get myself up for every round and put in whatever was left in me. I guess I was able to get through with it quite nicely," Tania said. It was a very tight schedule as 11 rounds were played in five and a half days, leaving very little time for the players to recover.

With the odds stacked heavily against her, Tania came up with creditable draws against Bhagyashree and Anupama Gokhale (whom she respectfully refers to as "aunties"), both five-time National champions, besides Saheli Dhar-Barua, among others. Her victims included rising star Dronavalli Harika and that outcome obviously left Tania most delighted.

"Against Anupama aunty, I was down a pawn but she did not play well and the game was drawn. Even against Bhagyashree aunty, it was a long game and we agreed to a draw only when the end-game was reached. I did not have a single easy draw. Even in the last two rounds, when most other qualifiers were involved in friendly draws, I met opponents who were desperate for wins," said Tania, admitting that she was not sure of making the top-10 bracket until the outcome of the final round.

Prior to this recent, unbeaten dream-run, Tania, a bronze-medallist in the World (under-12) and gold in the Commonwealth (under-14), somehow, has not been taken as seriously as some other players with lesser achievements.

It may be recalled that two years ago in the National 'B', she stunned International Master Neeraj Kumar Mishra, presently part of the Indian team, but it was seen as just a one-off performance. Consistently, Tania has either scored over or drawn with several higher rated players. Again, these were never enough to bring her the recognition she deserved.

But Tania's recent showings should help her cause immensely. After the much-expected teething trouble with the new time-control, Tania is slowly getting used to it. Commendable showing in three contrasting fields has boosted her confident to a new high.

Coached for almost seven years, until 1999, by K. C. Joshi and later by his more-accomplished brother G. B. Joshi, Tania has played within her limitations to reach where she is today.

"After putting in years of hard work, it surely hurts when someone comes up with a nasty remark or, in one stroke, dismisses all that I've earned through chess," says Tania unable to hide that unmistakable trace of pain in her voice and eyes.

If people did not think very highly of her it was probably because Tania was not required to make the usual 'sacrifices' like most others. If one looks around, performing chess players are normally from middle-class families, looking for funds to support them. So it does not come as a surprise when they have to stretch themselves to keep their game going. But in Tania's case, financial support was readily available at home but what was conveniently ignored by her critics was the fact that she was the one who moved the pieces over the board.

G. B. Joshi feels that Tania's talent is undeniable and the results are in keeping with the amount of work she has put in. "Unlike many other girls, perhaps, Tania puts in lesser number of hours. But what matters eventually is the quality of preparation. I guess, it is unfair to compare Tania with some of the more accomplished boys and girls in her age-group," says G. B. Joshi, who lost to Tania in the National 'B' at Nagpur in July.

Not so long ago, comparisons were made between Tania and Koneru Humpy since both belonged to the same age-group. But such comparisons soon proved futile since Humpy's one-point agenda was to excel in chess and nothing else really mattered. No wonder, Humpy scaled the ladder of success faster than any other girl in the country's chess history.

Tania, with a far different personality from that of Humpy, has maintained a fine balance between chess and academics. Surely, for this student of Modern School (Vasant Vihar), there is more to life than chess. Reading, dance and music, besides spending time with family members and friends, too, are in her list of priorities.

In chess circles, her well wishers include twice National runner-up S. Meenakshi and India's youngest GM P. Harikrishna.

"After I lost my third round at Teheran, I was practically in tears. Meenakshi told me things which I thought I already knew, but she made so much sense. She gave me so much knowledge about how to handle a certain situation. Due to her presence, I gained a lot of confidence. She has a lot to do with my performance in Teheran and later at Vizag. She is an amazing person, very matured and I learnt a lot from her," was Tania's glowing commendation to Meenakshi.

Tania also remembers to mention Harikrishna's role in her career. "He has been very encouraging. Actually, he is a very good friend of mine and, gamewise, he is quite helpful and always willing to sort out problems."

Considering the fact that New Delhi does not offer many competitive chess tournaments for the more accomplished players, Tania had to train that much harder to be match-fit. Besides being coached by the Joshi brothers, Tania also had brief coaching stints under Argentine GM Maxim Sorokin and IM Varugheese Koshy.

Koshy, the travelling coach of Harikrishna and known to be a tough task-master, has this to say about Tania: "No doubt she is immensely talented but her problems are with the basics. Her playing strength (in comparison with her rating of 2151) is quite high, but, at times, she makes silly mistakes owing to improper basics. She attacks well and her ending is okay. But she can get into trouble when faced with irregular openings. These are certain areas where she needs to pay more attention but I've no doubt that, with methodical training, these can be sorted out in due course."

It is true that Tania, perhaps, due to her cushioned and well-insulated upbringing, lacks the instincts and approach of a street-fighter. More often than not, she has chosen the softer option of accepting a draw offered by a higher-rated player. The toughness which one normally associates with champions, is yet to develop in Tania's case.

Tania, too, has no qualms in stating that she does "not like sacrifices a player has to make in one's career." The other aspect, which doesn't find Tania's approval is "working hard beyond a point." It is not that Tania is shy of working for long hours. Koshy has made Tania slog it out for nearly 10 hours a day and the best part of this grind was that the young girl not only enjoyed it, but also learnt the importance of putting in more.

K. C. Joshi, who has worked immensely on building Tania's middle-game understanding, agrees with Koshy's observations and says, "not enough work could be done on Tania's basics because, during the 1994-97 period, she did not realise the importance of working on her own. Coaches can only guide her but she has to learn to take the grind."

Tania says that for someone staying in New Delhi, "it is not easy to devote all your time (to chess). If you ask me, I have done all that I can. Had I been in a small town, perhaps, I could have given longer hours for chess."

Tania's sponsors, Hughes Software Systems, have been very understanding, just as the Principal of Modern School (Vasant Vihar), Ms. Goldie Malhotra. "I can't find words to explain the contribution made by them," says an overwhelmed Tania, who is also grateful to all her teachers and friends, who have felt "very normal" about her success over the board of 64 squares.

A lot of credit is due to Tania's parents - father Pammi and mother Anju - in her budding chess career. Tania's mother not only travels with her but also is like a friend to her and this has made a big difference. She is very serious about Tania's progress but refrains from pushing her too hard. Tania's father has been solidly behind her and despite the constraints of time, plays his role to perfection.

The support structure is firmly in place. However, looking ahead, the Joshi brothers strike a note of caution.

"Tania's attitude towards chess has improved in recent times but I expect more commitment in future," says G. B. Joshi. "She is slowly realising the importance of making things happen on the board instead of waiting for them to happen. Her lack of seriousness is understandable since she has a lot of other things to do besides playing chess. But coaching stints with Koshy have made her realise that this is the time to work hard at what she does best."

He says that Tania is slowly learning to spend more time on the board against positional players. "She is gradually working on classical games. She loves the games of Alexander Alekhine but we are now increasingly working with games played by Casablanca. She also has to learn a great deal from the positional mastery of Anatoly Karpov," he feels.

In contrast, K. C. Joshi chooses to take a harder look at the raw areas of Tania's chess. And he does so without mincing words.

"Even today, Tania's biggest drawback is that she avoids discussing her problems with her coaches. She tries to hide her weaknesses just as she used to do in her younger days. She hasn't learnt to spot her weaknesses (during post-match analysis). Her decision-making abilities leave a lot to be desired," says the younger of the two brothers and the man behind the 64 Squares Chess Academy in the capital.

"Her natural ability is slowly dying as focus has shifted to the theoretical aspect of the game. But the trouble is, she does not go too deep into a given position. She has the tendency to ignore the ideas behind her opponents' move. She cannot understand why a certain move is being played and has a very average understanding of the pawn-structure. She memorises certain lines and goes ahead with them. I feel that her coaches work harder than her. Coaches can only show the way, but she has to understand the ideas in greater depth. The day she begins to work harder, she can produce stunning results," says K. C. Joshi with all concern for his best known product till date.

Understandably, Tania feels indebted to the contribution made by K. C. Joshi during her early days in chess. She knows that she has miles to go but before that, her preparations on all aspects of the game need to be tightened.

"I want to become a Woman Grandmaster in the next three years," declares Tania and is quick to add, "but it doesn't mean that if I don't make it, it'll be the end of the world for me."

Tania obviously loves to go at a leisurely pace to attain realistic goals. She is in no great hurry to seek even Woman International Masters norm.

No wonder, this 'little-rich-girl' is so remarkably different from those in the crowd who cannot think and talk beyond chess.