Dev Shah of Class 4B participated in the esteemed Nationals Under -9 Chess Tournament in Jalandhar, Punjab, where 157 players from 20 states participated. This tournament qualifies the 1st and 2nd medalist to officially represent INDIA to the ASIAN YOUTH and WORLD YOUTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP.
Dev was an official entry from Maharashtra State, as he won a Gold Medal at the State Championship with a perfect score of 9/9. It was a great responsibility, which he fulfilled by scoring 9.5 points and beat the top seed in the 6th round and was leading till the last round. Dev got a Silver Medal, missing the Gold by a whisker, as the opponent who came first was also at the same score of 9.5. “Cant challenge and change destiny”.
He may be just eight but he’s still making all the right moves! Meet Dev Shah, a local chess wiz who has just added to an already impressive trophy haul with a silver medal winning effort at the FIDE World Youth & Cadets Chess Championship in Greece that ended last week.
The class three student at Dhirubhai Ambani International finished runner-up in the open under-eight category, no mean feat when you consider the quality of opposition he was up against and the fact that he entered the championship seeded 18th. Dev ended his campaign with a score of nine points from 11 games which included seven duels with opponents who feature in the world’s under-eight top 20 rankings. To the ardent V Anand fan, it was mission accomplished. “My goal was to try and finish in the top three,” a shy Dev told TOI on Monday.
It could have been a sweeter outcome had he got the better of compatriot and eventual winner Bharath Subramaniyam while playing with white pieces. “I had won six out six when I played him in round seven and he was half a point behind. But I blundered,” Dev candidly admitted.
Still, you couldn’t detect any sense of regret in his tone, a quality that really endears the young Candidate Master to his coach DV Ganesh. “One of the things I like most about him is that he doesn’t get depressed when he loses,” said Ganesh who has been working with Dev from the time the latter was just four and a half. “From the outset, all of us at the South Mumbai Chess Academy felt he would go far in the future.”
The two invest a good four-to-five hours on an average for approximately 18-20 days in a month with the aim of sharpening Dev’s game further. “You could say he spends more time with his coach than with us,” quipped Dev’s father Rahul. So where do his studies fit in? “Thankfully his school is very supportive and they have a one-hour enrichment class for him to catch up in certain subjects,” Rahul said.
With his exploits in Greece set to take his ELO rating to 1683 when the latest points are released at the start of December, Ganesh has already outlined Dev’s next goal. “The focus now will be on improving his rating further. By the end of December, the idea is he should be number one in the world in his age category,” said the coach.
Dev Shah of Class III B stood 4
th in the Under 9 State Chess Championship winning 7 out of 9 games. Dev will officially represent Maharashtra State in the upcoming National Championships to be held in Ahmedabad from 11 th June to 19 th June 2015. Dev is the only player of 8 years in the top 20 standings of the Under-9 category.
Dev Shah (Class II B) represented DAIS at the National Schools Chess Championship held in Delhi from 11th to 13th June 2014. He won the SILVER MEDAL in this national level tournament with the score of 8/9
With Mr. Bharat Chauhan – Head, All India Chess Federation
Dev with officials of Commonwealth Chess Championship 2014 and Indian Team manager
Dev remained unbeaten with the score of 8/9 with 7 wins and 2 draws. 61 students representing 16 states participated in this most coveted chess tournament.
Dev came out with flying colours in this tournament and won a trophy, medal and cash prize money.
