When 13-year-old Pratitee Bordoloi entered the FIDE World Youth Chess Championship 2026 in Montesilvano, Italy, she was not amongst the front runners. She left as India’s only medallist.
The Bengaluru-based Woman FIDE Master won silver in the Girls Under-18 classification, ending up with 9 points from 11 rounds and remaining unbeaten throughout the occasion. Completing versus challengers as numerous as 5 years older, she produced among the most striking efficiencies of the competition.
India sent out 13 gamers throughout 6 areas. Pratitee was the only one to return with a medal, while likewise protecting her very first Woman International Master standard and including more than 129 Elo indicate her ranking.
A birthday connection
There is another information that makes her story stand apart.
Pratitee was born upon 13 April 2013, precisely 50 years after Garry Kasparov, the chess fantastic born upon 13 April 1963. The birthday coincidence is intriguing enough by itself, however her coach, Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, states there is likewise a tactical similarity in the method she plays.
According to him, Pratitee has the capability to keep battling even when she lags and to discover methods back into a video game with persistence and computation.
That quality showed up in Italy, where she kept her composure round after round and never ever suffered a loss.
More than simply chess
Thipsay is clear on one point. Pratitee is not just a chess gamer.
He explains her as a mathematical skill who stands out in academics. Her mom, Pranti Dutta Bordoloi, states her child has actually constantly been strong in computations and mathematics, which chess came naturally due to the fact that of that background.
Pratitee’s increase started throughout the pandemic, when her video game began establishing rapidly even without heavy official training. In 2022, at simply 9 years of age, she stunned numerous by winning the Karnataka State Championship. 6 months later on, she included the National Under-9 title in Indore.
Before that, she had actually currently been succeeding in Maths Olympiads and won a gold medal in the SOF IMO, which her mom states was among the minutes that made the household understand how highly chess and mathematics were connected in her case.
A various type of junior gamer
What makes Pratitee various from lots of other children in the video game is the method she believes.
Thipsay states to TOI that she does decline concepts blindly. If something is discussed to her, she keeps questioning it till she is pleased. That routine, he thinks, is a significant strength, due to the fact that it assists her construct an independent idea procedure on the board.
He likewise states she takes pleasure in studying endgames, a stage of the video game that lots of juniors discover dull. For Pratitee, however, it is logic-heavy and appealing for precisely that factor.
Throughout the World Cadet Cup in 2015, where she won gold in the Under-12 Girls classification, she and Thipsay followed a sharp regimen. She would rest after her video games and after that study the next pairing later on during the night, typically after the main pairings were launched. Just then would they start getting ready for the next round.
Discipline off the board
Far from the chessboard, her regimen is securely handled.
Pratitee follows a long sleep cycle, trains physically utilizing a punching bag and biking, and is being raised in a home where academics still come. Her mom, who holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, states the household does not think in pressing chess at the expense of research studies.
That technique has actually formed her as a grounded teen, even as the outcomes keep coming.
Her mom likewise states Pratitee comprehends the psychological side of winning. She has actually been taught not to reveal excessive happiness in front of beat challengers, a pointer that ruthlessness belongs on the board, not outside it.
What follows
When inquired about her future just recently, Pratitee provided 2 responses.
One was easy and enthusiastic. She stated she wishes to be a world champ. The other was much shorter still. She stated she simply wishes to play well.
For a 13-year-old who has actually currently ended up being India’s only medallist at a world occasion, that might be the most revealing line of all.
(With TOI inputs)