Pawns are perhaps the most overlooked piece on a chessboard, but at the same time, they are one of the most vital cogs in the game. The driving force, which helps gain control of the central squares in the opening, is always the first line of defense in the game of 64 squares. It helps in piece development, make way up squares for much more ‘Important pieces,’ and ultimately, never shies aay from being sacrificed for the greater good. It moves only one square at a time (two squares on the first time), but the moment it breaks and runs a day with single-made focus, the world is to conquer, inside the choice.
Aravindh chithambaram, or pawnof64squares as he likes to call himself, is the idea of the Ideal Personification of the biggest potential ‘in this game.
Born in madurai, and raised by a single mother after the demise But unlike others, he had own way of doing it.
Like thousands of others, his first love was cricket but it was just after the inclination of his grandfather that he took a serious interest in chess.
A fantastic coach in gm rb ramesh made him and his family move to the chess capital of India, Chennai and he never look back. In 2013, the first tournament he played in the city had a bigger backdrop. Viswanathan Anand was defending his title against magnus carlsen and only a fide master at time, Aravindh Beat Four Grandmasters to Win The Chennai Gm Open.
For a kid with his potential, Aravindh’s care never take off the way many had been predicting. After becoming a grandmaster, Aravindh Always flew under the radar. But it was 2024 when things started to change.
“There are times when he will feel low in confidence so that used to drag him download a lot. He did not have that inner turmoil anymore, it is better now. He used to feel a lack of confidence in himself. He was stuck around the 2640 rating level for a long time, “Ramesh had said to the Indian express in 2024 after aravindh won the chennai grandmastrs ahead of Big Names like Arigaisi, LEVON, Vidit Gujrathi and Parham Maghsoodloo.
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He is also the first Indian to hold the crown of national champion in all three formats of the sport. He won the National Rapid and Blitz Titles in 2019 Before Claiming The National Open Senior Title (Classical Format) in 2018.
In 2019, he went on to defend his senior title in Majitar, sikkim and joined the list of a handful of players who defied their national titles like manuel aaron, Praveen ThripSay, Anand, Devaki V. Prasikaran Surishnan. Shekhar ganguly and his good friend Karthikeyan Murali.
A pessimist by nature who likes to question his moves and whose primary aim was not finish last at the chennai grandmaster 2024, who was out of the world’s top 100 just at the start of Last year to see. Five-Time World Champion, Anand, At 14th in Live Rating, Aravindh’s Stature has grown from being Another 2600 Player to a Serious Connd Super GM (2750-Plus Rated).
“These days he feels more Certain about himself. When you feel calm inside, in your mind, things work out better for you. In the last one year, he has been very consistent, gradually increasing his rating, crossing 2,700, which was a very important milestone. Then he started accelerating, and now he close to 2720, which is very good. This tournament he played in is a rare invitation he got to play in a closed tournament with an elite field. But thanks to this win, most likely, he’ll start getting invits to play more close tournaments in the future. I think that will drastically change his graph. Now he’ll be feeling that I belong to this group of players. I’m good enough, “Said Ramesh.
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Ramesh’s prediction stood true after aravindh won the presague masters 2025 on Friday. Unbeaten through the tournament, he bet vincent keymer, Wei yi and anish giri to finish on top.
“I don’t know what is happy with my life,” a shell-shouted aravindh told chessbase india after his win over wei. Things were moving fast for aravindh.
At the chess gurukul under coach ramesh, aravindh shared a close bond with two friends, R. Praggnanandhaa and Karthikeyyan. During the Prague Masters, aravindh faced a challenge from one of them – Praggnanandhaa.
In the Fifth Round, the 25-Year -l Went head-to-head with Praggnanandhaa, bot tied for the tournament lead with 3.0/4 points. Praggananandhaa was riding high after two consecutive victories against thai dai van nguyen and keymer. Before the match, aravindh, seated acros from pragganandhaa, greetd his friend with a broad smile and enthusiastic applause as phagganandhaa rescible an award for somehard for having of
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Off the board, they were friends, but on the board, they transformed into fierce competitors, leaving no room for Camaraderie as they batted to a hard-forth draw.
Once an underconfident independent, aravindh has now blossomed into a top-term performer, embracing a life of profound change. And like the second world champion emanuel Lasker had said, “Chess is, Above all, a fight. No matter how you define it, the point is to win. ” Aravindh Knows How to Fight and Cartainly Knows How To Win.