Polgar touch sets up India's youngsters for big league

The Hungarian GM wanted to familiarise the players with the work ethic required to break into upper echelons of chess

- Susan Ninan

For two weeks, seven Indian female chess players did something they had never done before. They trained eight hours daily with the greatest female chess player in history.

Former world No. 8 Judit Polgar designed a rigorous schedule in January with no rest days to push the mix of emerging, promising and seasoned Indian players-Vantika Agrawal, Savitha Shri B, Tania Sachdev, Sarayu Velpula, Rakshitta Ravi, Priyanka Nutakki and Sahithi Varshini - to the bounds of their mental fortitude. The Hungarian Grandmaster wanted to familiarise the players with the work ethic required to break into the game's upper echelons.

"They were not sure if they would be able to endure such a tough schedule at first," Polgar told HT. "I wanted to push them and show them how working for two weeks without a rest day can feel, where you come back and train every day when you are already a little tired. Working with the Indian girls felt a lot like my younger years when I trained for days in a row. The atmosphere of the sessions too was similar, like it was with my trainers. I wanted it that way."

Judit was in India as FIDE launched a torch relay to mark its 100th anniversary. The relay began in New Delhi on February 14 and will end in Judit's home city, Budapest, Hungary.

Growing up, Judit along with her sisters Susan and Sofia were initiated into chess by their father. Laszlo Polgar believed that talent could be created and nurtured at home and he chose chess as the medium of experiment for his daughters.