Opinion At chess World Cup, P Harikrishna’s defiant run shows Indian chess has depth

Over the last few years, as chess prodigies got younger and younger, Pentala Harikrishna made a name for himself as a second by powering the women’s world championship-winning campaign of Ju Wenjun, and then helping D Gukesh become the youngest world champion. Now, perhaps fittingly, as Gukesh has crashed out early from the World Cup at Goa, Harikrishna is still in the mix, flying not just India’s flag, but also of the in-between generation that came between the two world champions, Viswanathan Anand and Gukesh. Out of an unprecedented 24 Indians who started the chess World Cup in Goa, only two — Arjun Erigaisi and Harikrishna — remain in contention.

It has been refreshing to see the campaign of the 39-year-old from Guntur, who was once touted as India’s best bet to join Anand as part of the chess elite, but didn’t quite get there. The World Cup is the second most prestigious event on the chess calendar, and its knockout format, rare in chess, has been cited as the cause of the chaos that has unfolded in Goa with eight of the top 10 seeds already home. But what has stood out in the veteran’s run to the fifth round has been his aggressive, devil-may-care brand of chess, best symbolised by him offering up his queen, the most powerful piece on the board, as a sacrifice as early as move 8 in a round 2 game, and still winning.

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Harikrishna’s run is also a measure of the depth of Indian chess — even when high-profile names get knocked out, there are still contenders aplenty. While chess bustles with the excitement of the young guns, Harikrishna has beamed his way back to stake a claim on joining the Gen Now of Indian chess.