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The Hindu
7 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
S. Rohit Krishna becomes India's 89th Grand Master
S. Rohith Krishna has always been a bright student of academics. However, Rohith felt that his pursuit of excellence in academics slowed down the pace of his becoming a chess Grandmaster. When he became the 89th Indian Grandmaster at the Almaty Masters Qonaev Cup in Kazakhstan on Tuesday (August 12, 2025), with a victory over IM Artur Davtyan of Romania in the final round, securing six points out of nine, he was on top of the world. The 19-year-old, a third year student of SSN College of Engineering, knows that his journey has just begun. Speaking to The Hindu from Dubai, where he is taking part in the Abu Dhabi International tournament beginning August 15, Rohith said: 'Finally, achieving the dream of becoming a Grandmaster—one I have pursued since 2013—has brought me immense relief and joy. I will always remember my friends, family, and mentors who stood by me in difficult times, encouraging me never to give up. This is not the end—it is just the beginning of a longer journey ahead.' Rohith acknowledged the support of his school—Sunshine (Velachery), and College—SSN College, that made the path to becoming a Grand Master relatively smooth. 'At times, I felt the pressure of not achieving the Grandmaster title as quickly as I expected, as balancing academics and chess was never easy. However, the support of The Sunshine School and SSN College kept me motivated to excel in both fields,' he emphasised while thanking the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu for its financial assistance. K. Visweswaran, head coach of Kameswaran Chess Academy (Chennai), and one who has been training with Rohith closely since 2019, said his ward wanted to achieve excellence in academics and chess, and it was a conscious decision. 'He remains a very good student. He invested two years for school (Std. XI and XII) and one year in College (SSN) to get accustomed to the environment. Rohith looks at life holistically,' said the coach. According to his coach, 'Rohith is a diligent and a patient player. He is more or less like former England cricketer David Gower, elegant and positive. Like Gower, he is always ready to punish loose balls. He is tactically sharp and quick to capitalise on the opponent's mistakes. Now with the GM pressure off his back, he can go for tournament wins.' After becoming an International Master in 2022, Rohith earned his maiden GM-norm by winning the Hotel Stockholm North GM round-robin tournament in March 2025 and he got his second norm in the 2025 Dubai Open in May. It's time to witness a new and revitalised Rohith.
The Hindu
12-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
A hat trick at Great Salt Lake in Kalavakkam
Sample these scenarios where the least expected —or the unthought — happens against a fast-ticking clock, ushering in fresh joy. A result-altering three back-to-back goals in the additional moments of a football match. Three sixes in a row in the final over of a 20-20 tipping the scale. Or, three less-seen migratory birds sighted on the same day within inches of each other, at the tail-end of a wintering season. Sathish Kumar, an IT professional during the week and a birder during the weekend, experienced the very last scenario. His jaw dropped during a birding trip to Great Salt Lake (GSL) last weekend and it is yet to snap back to its normal position. On May 3, 2025, at the salt pans in GSL opposite SSN College in Kalavakkam, Sathish saw a Gull-billed tern, a Slender-billed gull and a Spotted redshank. He has photographed all three with the Slender-billed gull and the Spotted redshank even filling one frame. Sathish Kumar considers the sighting of the Spotted redshank extraordinary. It was a 'lifer' to him. In birding terms, a lifer marks the first time someone sees a particular bird species in the field. The Spotted redshank and Common redshank have more similarities than dissimilarities, but the latter are sufficiently pronounced for a birder to not confuse one for the other. When Sathish saw the lone Spotted redshank, there were a few Common redshanks in the waters too. The Spotted redshank he spotted on May 3 had slipped into its breeding plumage. In its breeding plumage, from crown to belly, including the nape and throat, the Spotted redshank develops a deep dark grey. Its legs also replace red with dark grey. One of the diagnostic features distinguishing it from the Common redshank (also a winter visitor in these parts): the colour and the shape of the beak. In the Common redshank, the beak is shorter, and the black and the red are distributed uniformly between the upper and lower mandibles. The base of the beak is red and the tip, black. In the Spotted redshank, the beak is longer, thinner and the tip sharper, and the lower mandible has a touch of red at the base. The rest of the lower mandible and the whole of the upper mandible are black. Another feature of the Spotted redshank is the slight curve to the beak.
