Taking Indian chess to the world

Coach of Pragg and Vaishali, chosen for Dronacharya award, Ramesh is making a big impact abroad

Seventeen years ago, RB Ramesh walked into a tournament hall in Mumbai as a player and what followed changed the course of his life.

"I was somewhat taken aback when players at almost every table greeted me," recalled Ramesh. "All of them were my students. Aarthie (his wife, a former chess player) and I stood in the hall and counted. We realised that around 40 of my students were participating, which was as many as I was coaching at the time." That day, Ramesh told himself that it was time to quit playing and do more of what he was good at-training other players.

Two years later in 2008, he left the government job and set up his academy, Chess Gurukul, in Chennai. Grandmaster siblings Praggnanandhaa Vaisha are among its most distinguished pupils and Ramesh was recently chosen for the Dronacharya Award - India's highest honour for sports coaches.

There's another dimension to this rousing success story. The 47-year-old is now seeding his training methods in other parts of the world. While still early, he's already had some great results.

The Romanian chess federation signed a collaboration with Ramesh in December 2022 to train players between the age of eight and 14 over six in-person sessions a year. Ramesh is also head coach of the Offerspill Chess Club in Norway, owned by five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen.

For the first time in over two decades, Romania won two gold medals at the European Youth Championships in September.

"We are learning how to study chess from Ramesh," said Gabriel Grecescu, secretary general of the Romanian Chess Federation. Ramesh was on Gabriel's wish list of coaches for around six years.

"When Romania approached me ahead of last year's Olympiad to overhaul their training system, my suggestion was to start with young players," Ramesh said.