Piece de resistance: The path to our Grandmasters

In Goa, where rural rusticity intersects with urban glitz, where the days are slow and the nights are short, the Chess World Cup trickled in this month almost surreptitiously.

- Kunal Pradhan

A resort tucked away in Arpora, a neighbourhood where beach-side revelry ends and local humdrum begins, was charged by a strange IYKYK energy.

Here, on a sunny Thursday afternoon, the Hungarian Peter Leko, 46, in blue tapered jeans, white shirt and a black linen jacket, walked into the tournament hall to face his fears a few minutes ahead of schedule. Now a celebrated chess commentator, Leko became a Grandmaster in 1994, at 14 years, 4 months and 22 days old - the youngest to get the tag at the time.

The seat across the board from him was soon filled by a 22-year-old Indian in a grey suit and no tie. Arjun Erigaisi, born in Warangal and raised on chessboards around the world, got the Grandmaster title in 2018, at the age of 14 years, 11 months and 13 days.

Over the next two hours, Leko, in the winter of his career, and Erigaisi, his sun on the rise, engaged in Rapid battles of mayhem.

The players seemed tranquil on the surface, but the violence on the board was slowly palpable in their demeanour. Leko put his palms on his temples; Erigaisi rested his head on his fist. Leko's boots lifted at the heels; one of Erigaisi's loafers did tiny pirouettes under the table. Leko adjusted his spectacles and winced; Erigaisi fidgeted with his stubble-bordering-on-beard and sighed.

They were watched closely by a small band of enthusiasts: excited schoolchildren in uniform on an excursion, fussy FIDE officials on duty, journalists on assignment, hapless resort guests driven by curiosity, and hardened fans who had travelled from different parts of India for the occasion.