I feel there's lots to be done to improve chess in Bengal, opines Surya Shekhar Ganguly

Surya Shekhar Ganguly is widely regarded as one of the finest chess players to have emerged from Bengal. He was part of the team that worked in the team of seconds that assisted Anand in winning the World Championship matches against Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, and Gelfand in 2008, 2010 and 2012 respectively.

While attending a junior national chess meet, the Arjuna award recipient called for a change in the integrated coaching system being implemented within the state in order to improve the quality of players being produced. 

“I feel there’s lots to be done here.Look at Tamil Nadu, we (Bengal) in comparison are lying far behind. 

“Ramesh is successful in implementing a coaching system which is bearing fruits. We also need something like that,” Surya told TNN in an exclusive interview. 

Surya, who is considered to be Bengal's highest-rated player, also had a word of advice for budding chess players present at the recently-concluded National Under-17 chess championships.

“I know many try to memorise as many moves as possible while preparing for a game. But I will say that is not the way. Prepare for the unexpected, that’s what should be the main criteria. I can say from my own experience, there were many occasions when all preparations go for a toss when you face an unplanned situation on the board. It’s how you tackle such situations that makes you grow as a player. 

“If you are devastated losing one tournament, then there is little scope to move ahead.If you sit idle you keep thinking about your games. Only if you play some game that you will stay engrossed in it and forget about the past or think about the future. That is very important,” Ganguly concluded.