Nihal Sarin is an Indian chess player and a chess prodigy who is known for qualifying the Elo rating mark of 2600 at the age of fourteen in 2019. He also became the fourth youngest player to cross the Elo rating mark of 2600.
Wiki/Biography
Nihal Sarin was born on Tuesday, 13 July 2004 (age 18 years; as of 2022) in Thrissur, Kerala. His zodiac sign is Cancer. He attended Excelsior English School, Kottayam and Devamatha CMI Public School, Thrissur.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 3″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Nihal’s father’s name is Sarin Abdulsalam, who is a dermatologist.
Nihal Sarin’s father
His mother’s name is Shijin Ammanam Veetil Ummar, who is a psychiatrist.
Nihal Sarin with his mother
He has a younger sister, Neha Sarin.
Nihal Sarin with his sister
Career
Nihal started playing chess at the age of six. In 2011, he won the Kerala state championship in the U-7 category, U-9 category twice, U-11 category twice and U-15 category once. He became the U-9 champion in 2013 in Chennai. In 2014, he participated in the World Youth Chess Championship in the Under-10 category and won the title of Candidate Master (CM) by FIDE.
Nihal Sarin received Candidate Master (CM) by FIDE
In 2015, he crossed the ELO rating of 2300 and won the title of FIDE Master by the World Chess Federation.
Nihal Sarin given the title of FIDE Master
In 2015, he qualified to represent Kerala in the National Challengers Championship after becoming the runner-up in the National Challengers Championship. He registered International Master’s norm thrice in 2016 at Cappelle la Grande Open, in 2016 at Sunway Sitges Open, and in 2017 at Aeroflot B Open.
Nihal Sarin wins Nihal Cappelle La Grande, France in 2016
His ELO rating increased from 2300 to 2500 in the TV2 Fagernes International 2017 tournament. In 2016, he received his first grandmaster title in Hasselbacken Open and second in Reykjavik Open in 2018.
Nihal Sarin at Reykjavik Open 2018
In July 2018, he played his first game in Isbank Turkish Super League.
Nihal Sarin at Isbank Turkish Super League 2018
In August 2018, he gained the title of 53rd grandmaster of India and became the twelfth youngest grandmaster at the Abu Dhabi Masters tournament. In January 2020, he played the TATA Steel Challengers tournament. In the same year, he won other tournaments including Junior Speed Chess Championship (JSCC), Capechecs Online, Super Juniors Cup and World Youth Chess Championship. In December 2020, he became the under-18 World Youth Chess Champion. In 2020, he won the U-19 category World Youth Chess Champion. In 2021, he won various tournaments including Silver Lake Open, Serbia Open Masters, and Junior Speed Chess Championship.
Nihal Sarin after winning the Serbia Open Masters 2021
Medals
Gold
- 2013: World Blitz Under-10 Championship
Nihal Sarin posing with gold medal after winning World Blitz Under-10 Championship 2013
- 2014: Asian Youth Under-10 Championship
Nihal Sarin wins Asian Youth Under-10 Championship (2014)
- 2014: Asian Youth Blitz Chess Championship
- 2017: World Youth Chess Olympiad
Nihal Sarin after winning World Youth Chess Olympiad 2017
- 2020: FIDE Online Chess Olympiad
Silver
- 2015: National Under-11 Championship
Nihal at the prize distribution function of National under 11 chess championship (2015)
- 2015: World Youth Chess Under-12 Championship
Nihal Sarin wins silver medal at World Youth Chess Under-12 Championship (2015)
- 2020: Asian Teams Online Championship
Awards
- 2016: National Child Award For Exceptional Achievement
Nihal Sarin wins National Child Award For Exceptional Achievement 2016
- 2020: Gazprom Brilliancy Prize
Facts/Trivia
- He follows a non-vegetarian diet.
Nihal Sarin eating chicken
- According to his parents, Nihal was very intelligent since childhood. He could recognize the flag of 190 countries when he was three years old. He also used to recognize the names of insects and plants. He could fluently speak English when he was in upper kindergarten. He know the tables till sixteen when he was in class one.
- In 2011, he shifted to Kerala from Kottayam. During his summer vacations, his father bought him a game of chess to spend time in summer vacations. His grandfather taught him the rules of the game. After his summer vacation, when he went to school, he took coaching from coach Mathew P. Joseph Pottoore twice a week. In an interview, he talked about this and said,
After I learnt to play chess from my grandfather, I was lucky to be in a school where chess was taught as a subject. My first successes were the usual ones — win state-level tournaments, national-level events, and world youth medals. Then I began to beat grandmasters. I keep playing as much as possible and I try to win all the games.”
Nihal Sarin as a child with his grandfather
- His first tournament was at the age of six. In an interview, his coach said that he had to reach the table by sitting on three chairs.
Nihal Sarin as a child
- When he was eight years old, he held the position of state under-19 runner-up. He became the runner-up again at the age of ten.
- On 8 May 2016, the website Chess-DB telecasted his game at the Hasselbacken Open as ‘Game of the Day.’
- In 2018, he participated in TATA Steel Rapid Championship and competed against Viswanathan Anand. In an interview, Viswanathan Anand talked about Nihal and said,
Going by the evidence so far, I would not rule it out (Nihal becoming a world champion in future). It’s a long journey forward. At the end, he is just 14. I felt that he would really struggle in this tournament and he would be a bit out of place. It seemed the opposite. He seemed quite comfortable here. Not fully there, but he’s a huge talent what I’ve seen of him.”
Nihal Sarin at TATA Steel Rapid Championship 2018
- In April 2021, he received training from Judit Polgár and Vladimir Kramnik.
Nihal Sarin with Vladimir Kramnik
- On 19 April 2021, he defeated world champion, Magnus Carlsen, in a Blitz format.
- Nihal received training from various coaches including Dimitri Komarov, Srinath Narayanan, and Viswanathan Anand.
- He organizes various exhibitions to promote chess.
- In 2015, he was called on the Malayalam TV quiz show Aswamedham as a guest competitor.
Nihal Sarin on Malayalam TV quiz show Aswamedham
- In 2018, he conducted a YouTube live show and donated Rs. 1, 74,463 for help in the Kerala floods.
- In 2018, he contributes Rs. 1, 74,463 as aid to Kerala floods through a live YouTube show.
- Since 2019, he is sponsored by Akshayakalpa, an Indian Organic Milk Company.
Nihal Sarin promoting Akshayakalpa
- In an interview, he talked about his experience of the online chess olympiad and said,
I did have certain advantages in terms of faster time controls. But my opponents were equally efficient as most of them have some experience playing online. It is all about handling pressure moments consistently. Of course, chances of cheating are higher online but the organisers take precautions to avoid the same. It would be best to constantly improve anti-cheating measures.”