NEW DELHI: The year was 2022. The Tamil Nadu Chess Association had organised a camp in Pollachi for the state’s strongest junior players, those who had qualified for the junior nationals. Ilamparthi, then only 13, wasn’t one of them. Yet, clutching his grandfather’s hand, he showed up anyway. “He came with his grandfather just to meet me,” recalls Grandmaster (GM) Shyam Sundar Mohanraj, one of India’s most respected chess coaches, speaking to TimesofIndia.com. “He was very shy, spoke in a respectful slang as they speak in that Pollachi-Coimbatore area.” Recognising the spark of genius within him, Shyam decided to make the youngster his protege. Three years later, he is now India’s 90th Grandmaster. What’s in the name? The name, Ilamparthi, has a meaning that almost predic

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